


Fooling Around

by BustersJezebel



Category: Walking Dead, Walking Dead (Comics), Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, Come Eating, Consensual Underage Sex, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, Nipple Play, Rimming, Underage Kissing, Underage Masturbation, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2014-03-29
Packaged: 2018-01-05 09:35:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 14
Words: 55,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BustersJezebel/pseuds/BustersJezebel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carl and Patrick fooling around. Both POV's. Obviously season four but we're going to pretend that Patrick shaking Daryl's hand did NOT take place on the same day he came down with the virus and died. Let's give them a little time to fool around shall we? And I've tried to make Patrick a tad more contemporary than Carl. </p><p>1. Being due to the slight age difference </p><p>2. Because Carl for most of his time during the apocalypse has been around adults entirely so would have less of a memory for peer slang. Plus which he's never used it in the comics nor the TV show. And if you don't like that, well this is fiction, so pretend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N – Okay, I've had a few requests that I write Carl and Patrick through my Walking Dead Hook-Up's story. As I'm not taking on anymore requests for that, this is a separate story. I must admit my third eye stood up on its stalk and said 'please accept' after a couple of requests. So after I did some thinking and debating to which my third eye told me in no uncertain terms I had already gone through two stories with an underage character doing explicit stuff, not to mention an adult's obsession with an underage girl. Therefore I had well and truly already 'done' underage storylines that were sexual in nature. Ergo, yes I could do Carl/Patrick. Special thanks must go to Hunter Ark who responded back saying they'd 'smashed all the tables within a five-mile radius' at my first nay to their request. It is because of them a nay became a yea. Extra special thanks to my third eye for saying 'just freaking do it already, don't be such a pussy' and to Peachylana who often tells me she likes how I push characters and don't hold back.

**WARNING – UNDERAGE SEXUAL SITUATIONS OCCUR – SLASH. If you know me, you know my smut is explicit. If you don't and you're already getting the heebie jeebies then I kindly suggest you take a hike right now**

* * *

OMG, he'd just shook Daryl Dixon's hand. Oh shit. Patrick finds himself shaking as he awkwardly turns the meat with his left hand, his right is still tingling from touching Daryl Dixon's hand. He grins to himself gleefully. With his next breath however its business as usual.

"Stupid, why would he want someone like you? He can have anyone. And you're way too young, not even legal, get over your freaking man crush already Pat." It is not until a voice speaks beside him that he realises he'd been doing what he has a stupid shitty habit of doing. Talking to himself out loud.

"What's a man-crush?" It's Carl. His other crush. Which was stupid because as far as he knew Carl didn't even like guys. Though neither did Daryl; he was one hundred percent certain of that. But Daryl was like Unobtanium, completely beyond Patrick's sphere of possibility. Carl? Well Carl was different. With Carl he could dream, with Carl he had hope.

Shaking his head Patrick looks over and slightly down at Carl. Unlike Carl his growth spurt has well and truly hit and his voice broken. Carl's is still in that in-between stage where sometimes it's his boy voice and sometimes it's his man voice. Patrick liked his man voice. He'd never registered Carl until his voice had started breaking, and then. Oh heck. "Down boy." He mutters to himself.

"Huh?" Carl is even more puzzled now. And that was the other thing, did he not know any of these expressions? Patrick was puzzled. Before the infection had hit, he was a geeky guy, attached to his computer and games, indoor stuff. Carl hadn't been into computers at all but he should still know certain expressions and stuff. Patrick was honestly puzzled about how Carl didn't know some stuff, he should know more than Patrick to be honest. But it was just the opposite. "Patrick?" Carl questions him again.

"Sorry man, heat's getting to me I guess. I'm just minding this for Carol while she shows Daryl something, wanna go for a walk, toss a ball around when she gets back?" He questions hoping this will distract Carl from his man crush question. Neither of them like to play football – Carl had said he'd loved baseball - especially but it gets them away from the adults which they both appreciate.

"Yeah sure, I'll be over behind…" Patrick nods and says he'll catch up with Carl which he will. He doesn't see Carl take several steps away and turn back to look at him before shaking his head and moving off.

##########

Carl goes to see his father and they do their work together. He mentions hanging around with Patrick later knowing his dad won't mind, he's just letting him know where he'll be. He wasn't stupid, he'd heard Patrick when he was talking to himself, mostly he was a riot as he did it without even realising. The stuff that came out of his mouth was hilarious a lot of the time. But Carl knew he'd been trying to deflect him so he tucked his question away for the right time. He'd ask someone else if they….he's distracted from his musings by the whistle. He looks over at his Dad and they grin and jog to the gate. His dad opens it as Michonne canters through on her mare. She drops from the saddle like a dark wraith and as always she has M&M's for him and, "Yes!" Carl exclaims at the stash of comics she grabs from her saddle bags.

He nearly hugs her before he remembers himself, settling instead for punching her arm lightly. He's the only one she lets touch her as far as he knows. She puts an arm around his shoulders as Rick goes back to his crops and they walk to the stable together, him hugging the comics and her leading the mare with her other arm draped around his shoulders.

"Got a question." Carl says. Michonne had told him some months ago to never ask if he could ask a question, just to say he had one to ask. Carl did just about everything Michonne said and this was no exception. She'd also told him she'd always answer whatever he asked her but to be careful of where he asked her for when others might hear their frank conversations.

"Shoot." At the stable Michonne unsaddles the mare as Carl gets the combs to brush the mare down.

"What's a 'man crush'?" He removes the bridle and puts on the halter as he starts to groom the horse and Michonne puts the saddle on the horizontal pole set up under the lean-to where they stored stuff.

"A man crush is when one guy wants to be around or like another guy, kind of that they admire them, want to be like them, emulate them. Know what emulate means?" Carl nods and Michonne smiles back. "So tell me, who has a man crush on who?" She wipes down the saddle as Carl grooms her mare.

"Pinky?" Carl asks her with a smile.

"Of course." Michonne smiles back and Carl just grins at her for a second.

"I heard Patrick say it this morning. He'd been talking to Daryl and he said something like 'get over your stupid man crush' but he also said something about not even being legal, what'd he mean by that?" Carl looks over at Michonne as she stops moving and looks back.

She doesn't hesitate in being honest with Carl, she trusts him implicitly and if he doesn't understand what she says he tells her. "Means that he has a regular crush as well I'd say, how old is Patrick anyway?" Michonne asks, she wonders if she should mention it to Daryl but decides with a smile that Redneck can handle himself. Though it might be worth staying around for a while to see what developed.

"Fifteen. Oh, like Beth has a crush on Dad?" Carl's voice is innocent but his dancing eyes tell Michonne otherwise.

"Yeah runt, like that." They look at each other before they burst into laughter. "Or like you used to have a crush on Maggie." Michonne loves to tease him. Carl flushes and answers without thought.

"Wasn't Maggie." Michonne stops and stares at Carl. He doesn't notice her stillness or see the dawning realisation in her eyes. And she has schooled the uncharacteristic emotion from her face by the time he turns back to face her.

"Yeah, who was it then?" Michonne knows full well who it was now but Carl would think it weird if she didn't ask.

"No one." Carl answers without looking at her. Michonne laughs quietly.

"It's a long lonely road sometimes, but as long as I'm alive I'll be here for you." Carl frowns at her.

"What do you mean?" Michonne shrugs.

"Just that if you want to or need to talk about…crushes or something I'm here for you." She tosses the rag down and looks over to where Carl is putting the grooming tools away. "Let's get some lunch, didn't you say you had a date this afternoon?" She watches without surprise as Carl flushes again before lowering his head and letting his long hair cover his face.

"No, me and Patrick are just gonna hang out a bit, you should hang out with Daryl." Michonne narrows her eyes at Carl as he looks innocently back up at her and continues on "Or Dad." Just as she's about to swat him he takes off leaving her in the dust. She can see he's just starting to shoot up and wonders how tall he'll end up. Rick is not short and she'd heard that Lori had been the same height as Rick so Carl had tall genes on both sides of his family.

Carl laughs back at Michonne as she meanders after him. Unless it was life or death he has never seen her run, her exercises are all cardio-related but don't involve running. A part of his brain also knows she does it deliberately, forcing people to wait for her and because she looks good when she walks slow. All long and lean, she has Daryl and his Dad watching her every time she walks anywhere. As she comes abreast of him again he falls in beside her.

He grins when she swats him. He'd been waiting for her to. "Daryl or your Dad huh? Maybe I should hang out with both of them, think I'd like that." Carl's jaw drops at her frank conversation, she was usually frank with him, but this was beyond anything she'd ever said to him before.

"Can you do that?" He asked knowing full well she was talking about having sex with both of them at the same time.

"Oh yeah, if it's done right it rocks your world." Michonne turns to him and wiggles her eyebrows and Carl just stares at her as his brain tries to work it out.

"So, what? Do they take turns?" Michonne shakes her head and just smiles at him. They both nod to Glenn though for once Carl doesn't linger for which Michonne is grateful.

"I don't get it." Carl is confused, there is no way Michonne can have sex with both of them at the same time. Is there?

"Put your thinking cap on, maybe ask Patrick." Michonne answers with a wicked smile as they walk inside. "If he can't help and you can't figure it out by tonight, I'll explain it to you. But," She pauses to look at him. "You're smart runt, I'm betting you'll work it out." With that she slings her arm around his shoulders and they head in to have some lunch.

As his dad is at lunch too their conversation doesn't continue, they talk instead about comics and still being able to find chocolate and Michonne mentions having found some more horses as well that they could potentially catch. Carl watches her and his dad. Michonne makes him smile, the only other person who manages to really do that these days is Daryl. Carl's eyes narrow as he watches them.

With his brain starting to work out what Michonne had said to him slowly he finishes his lunch and heads off to where he and Patrick usually hang out. He gets there first and grabs the football but then just sits down. He knows about sex. His parents had given him the talk at the farm when he was recovering from his bullet wound.

But this was confusing. He ponders as he tosses the ball from hand to hand and it isn't until a shadow falls over him that he realises Patrick has arrived.

"Hey." Carl tosses him the ball.

"Hey man, what's up?" Patrick looks at him quizzically.

Carl shakes his head. "Later, wanna play or something?" He frowns a little at Patrick's smile, did he always smile like that? Like he had a secret he was keeping?

"Yeah, I could play." Carl is sure he hears Patrick add on 'with something' after that and suddenly he feels breathless. They play as they usually do, not tackling each other, just touching and then the ball changes hands. Carl's heart always beats faster when Patrick touches him. He's never questioned it, never felt weird but today because sex is on his mind and sex involves touching, he notices it. He's also never questioned the fact that he likes Patrick's touch before today but Michonne has made him aware of it now.

Suddenly he's tackled to the ground with Patrick rolling him so Carl was lying on his back looking up at Patrick's amused face, the sun glints off his glasses.

"Shit, Patrick." Carl complains feeling a rock digging into his backside. "That hurt."

Patrick laughs. "You were away with the fairies man, what's going on?" He kneels up and then moves to the side, sitting beside Carl who stays laying on his back in the grass.

"Michonne confused me." Carl says without explaining anything further.

Patrick looks down at him. "She confuses the shit out of me, I don't know how you talk to her. What did she say?"

"How do you have sex with two people at the same time?" Carl asks. Patrick happened to be looking down at him and Carl saw the shock move over his face. "What?" Carl asks.

Shaking his head Patrick looks away and raises his legs, winding his arms around them as he shifts slightly. "What kind of question is that?" He asks Carl without looking further at him.

"Well, I was joking with her about Dad and Daryl and she said maybe she should do them together and I don't know how that would work, she said they wouldn't take turns." Patrick is looking at him again, eyes wide behind his glasses.

"She said that to you? I mean that she'd have sex with your Dad and Daryl at the same time?"

Carl nods. "Yeah, but I still don't get it, do you?" Patrick looks away and shifts again. Carl is feeling breathless, not to mention awkward asking Patrick this but he can't figure it out. Besides Michonne had told him to ask Patrick.

"There are a couple of ways that I know of yeah." Patrick finally answers, still not looking at him. Carl puts a hand out, touching Patrick lightly on the back. He feels him jump and his skin twitch, but he doesn't move away. So Carl leaves his hand there as he waits for Patrick to answer. He likes touching Patrick back.

"Okay," Patrick turns around looking down at Carl. "Regular sex and a blow job, so Michonne has sex with say, your Dad and she blows Daryl at the same time. Follow me?" Carl frowns trying to remember what Patrick meant by a blow job. He hadn't heard the expression.

"No, sorry. What's a blow job?" He asks Patrick.

"Dude, seriously? How can you not know what a freaking blow job is?" Patrick sounds exasperated. Before Cal can say anything he explains. "It's when someone sucks a guy off."

Something is teasing at Carl's brain but he still doesn't grasp what Patrick is saying. "Suck's what off and if they're sucking, why is it called a blow job anyway?"

"Oh, uh. Geez!" Patrick finally moves, throwing his arms up in the air and falling back so he's lying beside Carl in the tall grass now. Carl hadn't moved his hand fast enough so now it was stuck half under Patrick's hip and thigh. He tried to wriggle his fingers but without making a big deal out of it, but he couldn't move. So ignoring his heartbeat speeding up Carl looks back over at Patrick.

"What? I can't understand if you don't explain stuff right you know." He says beginning to get irritated at Patrick in turn.

"Shit, have your, I mean did your Dad tell you about sex at all?" Patrick looks over at Carl, his face is flushed but Carl's feels hot too so he doesn't take it to mean anything.

"Yes! I already told you this." He is truly irritated now at Patrick, Michonne for suggesting he discuss it with Patrick and himself for bringing it all up in the first place.

"But when he talked about it did he talk about positions and shit?" Patrick's voice is even more breathless now, he wriggles around on his back and in the process Carl's hand is now crushed under his butt cheek. Carl feels like wriggling around himself.

"Positions of what? Sex?" Patrick nods over at him, eyes wide behind his glasses. Carl frowns as he sees Patrick's eyes are dilated as well. "Uh, no. He never talked about anything beyond intercourse and pregnancy. Why?" Carl is less irritated now Patrick seems to have calmed down.

Looking over at Carl, Patrick nearly comes in his pants. Carl's face is flushed, colour high on his cheeks, making his freckles stand out even more. And his hair is damp and clinging to his face and neck. Patrick wants to kiss Carl in the worst way. But he can't, he knows that. But his dick doesn't. His dick is jumping happily up and down – well up and up really – at the discussion on blow jobs.

"Okay," Patrick pushes his hands out in front of himself, like wiping the slate clean. "From the beginning for the mentally retarded," He is cut-off by Carl wrenching his hand out from under his butt, and that had been kind of nice, especially when he'd wriggled on it and Carl's fingers had flexed. Then Carl's up and leaning over him, his body is actually touching Patrick's. His chest on Patrick's chest and Carl's left hand is holding Patrick's right on flat on the ground on the other side of his body.

Carl's own body is holding Patrick's left hand hostage. "I'm not stupid, just because I don't know some shit doesn't mean I'm stupid. You take your 'know it all' attitude and shove it Pat." Carl pushes off him too far gone in his sudden anger to understand Patrick's groan as he uses his body as a springboard to push himself up.

He is off the ground and walking away when Patrick calls out to him. Carl ignores him and keeps walking. He is surprised by how far from any of the buildings they'd wandered in their game. He hears Patrick coming behind him but ignores his calls. Then he hears Patrick jogging up behind him but still ignores him until suddenly he is tackled to the ground.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter picks up immediately after chapter one finishes with no gap.

"You want to know positions huh?" Patrick's voice is breathless. "You want to know about blow jobs, and how a woman fucks two men at the same time? Well retard, I'll tell you." Patrick suddenly pushes down on Carl's hips. He'd been sitting on Carl's thighs, straddling him with Carl's hands pulled behind his back,

But he moves so his legs are between Carl's and then they spread, pushing Carl's out in the process. "Pat what are you doing? Let me go!" Carl is pinioned, he can't move at all. Patrick has him completely immobilised. Carl doesn't feel fear but he's not comfortable either. Patrick looked like a dweeb but he was far from it. Under his geeky clothes he had wiry muscles from months of being on the run with the group he'd been found with.

"Or what Carl, you gonna go run to Daddy? Tell him I was just showing you something Michonne talked about with you?" Patrick's voice is sarcastic. And then he's pulled back a little and his hand cups Carl's backside, his fingers digging between his legs. Carl feels them brush him intimately and to his shame he reacts.

"No, Pat, no." His voice is a whisper as he feels Patrick's fingers dig into him, feeling his reaction, exploring it. And then his fingers pull back though he makes no further move away.

"Sexual position 101 dude," Patrick's voice is husky though Carl doesn't know why. "This here." Patrick's fingers now brush against Carl's anal entrance, "Well it's used for screwing as well as shitting. So Michonne can screw two dicks at the same time if she wants your Dad and Daryl together. It's called double penetration. Or DP." And then Patrick lets go of Carl's wrists and Carl feels him move away.

Carl brings his arms forward and pushes up on his elbows looking around to see where Patrick was, He was lying about six feet away, on his back with his legs spread and his hands, Carl swallows as he watches. Patrick is touching his dick, through his clothes. His eyes are closed and his mouth is open. Carl unconsciously pushes his hips down toward the ground, seeking friction himself.

Anger is forgotten as Carl loses his breath watching Patrick fondle himself. He wants to move closer but knows that will most likely break the spell they're under at the moment.

"You like watching?" Patrick asks, he's not looking at Carl as he slips a hand under his cargos.

"Watching what?" Carl is clueless again.

Patrick sighs. "Watching what I'm doing, haven't you watched other's do it, when you've been on the road and shit?" Carl looks up at Patrick's face, he is flushed and sweating and his eyes are huge behind his glasses as he looks at Carl now.

"Uh, no. I never watched, I mean I never actually saw anything. I mean, I've seen people kissing and moving around under blankets and stuff and heard noises, but I've never really _seen_ anything you know?" Carl says as he drops his eyes again to watch Patrick's hand inside his pants.

"Okay, weird. I saw all kinds of shit, not to mention what I looked up online when the internet still existed." Patrick brings his hand out of his cargo's and Carl see's liquid on it.

"You piss yourself or something?" He jerks his head at Patrick's hand.

Patrick laughs as he licks it off. "No, guess that answers a question I was gonna ask, its pre-come. You leak it prior to orgasm." Patrick sits up, Carl can see a bulge in his pants that would mirror his own if he sat up. He's gotten an erection before but nothing else. Certainly not the ejaculation his father mentioned that caused pregnancy.

"That I know." Carl answers. Patrick nods.

"Blow job is when someone sucks a guy's penis until he orgasms. And if they're good, they swallow the come. 'S where the expression 'do you spit or do you swallow?' comes from." Patrick puts his palm on his dick again, he's past caring that Carl is watching him. "Understand that?" He looks over at Carl to see he is watching his hand on his dick. He hasn't moved off his stomach but Patrick suddenly realises he's flexing his arse muscles slightly, he's thrusting into the ground.

It's the tiniest of tiny movements, but he's doing it. Patrick's hand that had touched Carl just before tingles as he remembers the reaction he'd felt. Carl had gotten a hard on. And, "This is called an erection, or a hard on. Your dick gets hard when you're aroused and when you come it goes soft again. Know what aroused means?" Carl nods and Patrick nods in return.

"I take if from what you just said, you've never come?" Carl shakes his head.

"No, I get hard sometimes but that's all." He frowns. "It happens every morning but at other times as well. Weird times."

Patrick laughs lightly. "That's kind of normal. Men are supposed to think of sex or something to do with sex hundreds of times a day. What bad times to you get hard?" He's curious.

Looking away Carl doesn't answer. Patrick sighs. And he stops touching himself and rolls closer. "It's normal, especially for guys our age dude."

Carl looks back at Patrick and Patrick's softening dick jerks in his pants at Carl's eyes flashing at him from under his lashes. Shit he was so done for. Because the way Carl was looking at him was just giving him ideas. Ideas he had no business thinking.

"So," Patrick continues, "Have you ever kissed anyone yourself then?"

Carl gapes at him, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Like a girl or whatever?" Patrick's heart skips a beat at the 'whatever' remark.

"Uh yeah, a girl or a dude." He hesitates before saying dude, wonders if Carl is going to take off again on him. But he surprises him by moving closer. Rolling, sitting up and scooting forward.

"No, I mean I've wanted to but…no." He sits back down, cross-legged now and looks evenly at Patrick like he's trying to impart knowledge without saying anything.

"Yeah, cool. Who? Someone here?" Carl blushes and Patrick's dick returns to full mast. "Oh man, you're blushing, that means it is someone here. Don't be such a wuss, tell me." Patrick's voice has humour but no sarcasm this time. He genuinely wants to know if Carl mentions a female or a guy. He hopes like hell it's a guy.

"No. Not that, but…" Carl trails off and looks at Patrick through his lashes again. Patrick is creaming now, his heart beating heavily in his chest.

"But what man?" He asks breathlessly, he sees Carl's hands tighten on his knees.

"I want a kiss, to know what it's like you know? Would you kiss me Pat?" Carl's question is asked in a whisper as Patrick gapes at him. In his wildest dreams he never imagined he'd be asked to be someone's first kiss, let alone now and let alone Carl's.

"Dude, if I kiss you I'm gonna come in my pants." Patrick says honestly. He watches with a grin as Carl flushes beet red this time and Patrick lays back down chortling. "I think-" He's cut off by Carl moving quick as a snake, lurching forward and laying his lips across his.

Patrick stills as he feels the softness of Carl's lips for the first time. His cock jerks once and explodes in his pants as he pants under Carl's sloppy kiss. At his groan Carl pulls away quickly.

"What? What did I do wrong? Shit, I knew I'd suck." Carl rolls to his feet and is off back toward the prison before Patrick can even recover enough to sit up. He lies there feeling his come inside his underwear and trousers. He's getting sticky.

"You didn't do anything freaking wrong! Freaking surprised me is all dude!" Patrick yells at Carl's retreating back. As he expects Carl doesn't even slow down, never mind glance back at him. In fact he speeds up, starting to jog. Sighing Patrick sits up and stands, walking back to the buildings himself he pulls at his jeans. When he's back inside he grabs a change of clothes and heads to the showers.

##########

At dinner that evening Carl is silent, he's trying not to think of what he'd done to Patrick. Patrick had groaned at him for Pete's sake. That couldn't be good. Carl doesn't remember Patrick saying if he'd kissed him he'd come in his pants. He ignores Patrick who actually doesn't try to approach or talk to him either. When Michonne speaks to him he tells her he'd figured it out and says no more.

But Carl watches her with his father and Daryl. He knew it wasn't right but it was the only way he'd figure stuff out. Like Pat said the internet didn't exist anymore and something told Carl that he couldn't just walk up to someone and ask them about sexual positions and how someone actually gave a blow job. It was time for him to put his stealth on and do some spying. Patrick said he'd seen shit, well that shit had to still be happening, he just had to look for it. Quietly.

And so Carl begins to watch. He sees kisses, hugs and even some groping but no sex. He thinks it's because most everyone has their own room now, even he does for which he's grateful. Waking one morning with his usual hard on Carl stays lying down waiting for it to abate. He thinks of Patrick touching himself a few days ago and his dick twitches in his underwear.

Patrick had touched his own penis, pushing his hands under his trousers and underwear, he'd tasted his own pre-come like it was no big deal. Could he do that? Carl is fearful someone will walk in on him. No one in his original group knocks on his door he thinks resentfully. Carl looks around the room before looking up.

He didn't sleep on the top bunk but the top bunk would keep him a bit out of whoever's eye sight, unless they stood right up close. Before he can second guess himself Carl swings unsteadily out of bed and climbs up onto the top bunk. The mattress is scratchy against his bare back but it he ignores it as he lies back down, facing the back wall now, his head closest to the door.

Lying there Carl is suddenly nervous. He's never even tried to touch himself like this before. But Patrick had done it with ease. Surely it couldn't be that hard? Resting both hands palm down, flat on his stomach Carl just breathes for a while. Then slowly he glides them down over his hip bones and to his dick. He's started growing hair on his groin, but it's just dark brown fuzz now, nothing like the full thatch of curls that his father has, or the light brown straight hair that Daryl has. Or Glenn's beautiful black forest that Carl's always wanted to touch.

And just as he thinks of Glenn's pubic hair Carl's dick jumps and his left hand grasps his shaft. Carl's back arches on a soft cry as he grabs himself tighter. He feels his testicles draw up and he has jerked his dick roughly twice, not even knowing he'd done it, muscle memory or genetics taking over.

The orgasm, Carl's first orgasm hits like a freight train. What the hell was that? He lies there on the bunk with spunky shit on his stomach and his heart nearly beating out of his chest. He can feel his body drying clammy from the sweat he'd suddenly sprouted without even realising.

After several minutes Carl feels his heartbeat return to normal. His left hand is still grasping his dick and he can feel it starting to harden again in his hand. So he lets it go. Raising his head he can see his come on his stomach. His ejaculate, his semen, it was what made babies. Patrick had eaten his pre-come, could you eat your come as well?

Only one way to find out. Carl swipes his right index finger through the come, there wasn't that much really. It is a milky colour and smells a bit funky but he licks it off his finger. It tasted like salt and tree bark. And it was bitter with an aftertaste. But Carl liked it. He scooped up the rest of his come and licked and sucked that off his fingers as well, swallowing it all. Patrick had said if you swallowed you were better so whether he'd liked it or not Carl was always going to swallow.

So that was an orgasm. Now he knew what all the fuss was about. Just as Carl is about to grasp his dick again his father calls out as he walks past. "Up and at them sunshine, we've got a long day today." Carl groans softly to himself. He was already hard again.

Rolling off the bed he gets dressed and pushes his penis inside his cargos as he does them up. He buttons the couple of buttons on the bottom of his shirt so his erection isn't visible and heads to breakfast.


	3. Chapter 3

Carl is eating breakfast with his father when Glenn approaches with Maggie, they sit and talk to he and his Dad, nothing serious just making small talk. They'd been Carl's best bet for seeing sex but they were being very quiet and discreet these days so he'd been foiled there too.

"You okay Carl?" Glenn questions him as he's wondering who else he can spy on.

"Uh, yeah why?" Carl asks in return.

"You seem different is all." Glenn answers before he Rick and Maggie continue talking. But his question has caught Patrick's attention. He looks over at Carl with a frown; then a smile that makes Carl squirm in his seat moves across his face. It was not a mean smile or anything; but it was a smile that made Carl both uncomfortable and breathless.

"Hey Carl, want to play some ball later on?" Patrick has gotten up and taken his plate over to be washed, stopping by Carl's table on his way back.

"I can't, we have a big day today Pat. Sorry." And he is sorry, because Patrick has obviously forgiven him his stupidity in trying to kiss him. He liked Patrick, he wanted to keep hanging out with him.

"That's okay man, you need a hand then?" Patrick asks him with that grin that by turns makes Carl breathless and nervous on his face.

"That would be good Patrick, then I can go check the snares while Carl continues with the hoeing, that will make our day go faster. Thank you, we're obliged." Rick nods as he picks up the iPod they'd found and grabs his gloves. "You'll need some gloves though, ask Daryl for some, he's usually got some spares." He nods and clasps Carl's shoulder before heading off.

Patrick takes Rick's place, straddling the seat sideways, facing Carl as he finishes his breakfast. Glenn and Maggie wander off as well.

"You had one." He says bluntly to Carl who feels his face heating.

"Had what? We've gotta go if you're gonna help." Carl grabs his plate and the piece of meat still on it. He drops off the plate and smiles at the girl on duty who smiles back and then still gnawing on the meat he turns and walks away.

Patrick falls silently into step with him saying nothing until they're away from any prying ears. Carl's heart is beating erratically in his chest as he waits for Patrick to speak again, knowing he will, that he won't give up until Carl confirms what he's just said.

So he decides to speak before Patrick can ask him again. Finishing off his breakfast and looking around to make sure they're alone as they walk to the shed to begin their day of work Carl looks at the ground and says, "Yeah, I had one, this morning." Patrick inhales sharply beside him.

"Was it good, did you like it?" He asks quickly.

Carl nods. "It was intense, I uh, probably would have freaked if you hadn't spoken to me about it. I mean I was just thinking about them and it was like it exploded or something." Carl shakes his head without realising what he'd just said but Patrick looks over and slightly down at him with a grin.

"Yeah? Who were you thinking of? There is no way you weren't thinking of someone in particular. And were you touching yourself or did you just come right off?" His eyes are dancing behind his glasses as he looks at Carl. Carl looks up at him through his hair.

"Why is it such a big deal for you to know who I was thinking of? Or even if I was thinking of someone at all?" He's genuinely curious.

Patrick shrugs. "Want to know what turns you on is all." It's his turn to look down at the ground as they walk.

Carl looks at Patrick's profile. He was not looking at Carl this time, his usual bravado and confidence was missing. Carl frowned. As they get to the lean-to where they keep the animal feed Carl starts to get the food to feed the animals they have to take care of. He thinks of what Patrick had just said as Patrick works beside him silently. He thinks he knows why Patrick wants to know but he has to ask anyway.

"Why is that such a big deal? That you need to know who I was thinking of? Why?" He finally stops working as they're back at the lean-to and he steps into the shaded side of it so they're away from any potential prying eyes. Patrick follows him.

He stands and looks at the ground silently with one hand rubbing the back of his neck then he pushes his glasses up on his nose as he looks up at Carl. "Be nice if it was me." He says no more and Carl nods, biting his lip as he tries unsuccessfully not to blush.

"It wasn't, but I'd been thinking of you when I decided to try to uh, you know." He admits. He watches Patrick assimilate what he'd said. Patrick pushes his glasses up and rubs the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

"Guess I was hoping I did it for you dude." He shrugs as if it's no big deal and turns away to continue with feeding the rest of the animals when Carl reaches out touching his arm.

"Why didn't you want to kiss me the other day then?" Carl asks quietly, his hand remains on Patrick's forearm. Patrick looks down at it then back up at Carl.

"I like you." He says no more and waits for Carl to see if Carl understands what he'd said. Carl nods.

"I like you too Pat. You're, I just like you, spending time with you and stuff, you make me nervous sometimes, but it's a good nervous you know?" Patrick nods wondering if Carl realises what'd he'd admitted. Before he can question anything Carl continues. "The guy I thought of when I came, I've thought of him for a long time, but he's too old and doesn't think of me that way anyway so I put it away, it was kind of reflex. I was thinking of something on me, then Dad and Daryl and then…him and I touched myself and I, uh came all over my stomach." Carl drops his hand from Patrick's arm and rubs his stomach reflectively.

"How'd you get rid of it then?" Patrick asks curiously.

Carl flushes uncontrollably now and turns away hanging his head. Patrick frowns as he watches. "I, well you said a good blow job means you swallow." He doesn't look back at Patrick as he mumbles his answer. Patrick gapes at him.

"You swallowed your own come?" He is shocked that Carl had done that straight away and turned on beyond belief. His dick is at full mast inside his jeans, he rubs it without even realising he's touched himself. "Tell me you can't actually suck yourself dude?" He is nearly gasping for air at the thought Carl is flexible enough to do that. That would be freaking amazing to see.

"What? No!" Carl looks at him in shock. "Wait, can you do that?" His eyes are wide as he just stares dumfounded at Patrick now.

Patrick laughs. "No way dude, but I saw it on the internet and I saw this one picture of a guy screwing another dude and he was hunched over and sucking the other guys dick at the same time. That was hot I gotta say." Carl stares at Patrick wide-eyed.

"How was he screwing the guy? We don't have…" He trails off figuring stuff in his head. "So if I was uh, having sex with you I'd be, I mean my penis would be inside your backside?" Carl is wide-eyed again as he watches Patrick standing there looking at him, his glasses are reflecting the light so Carl can't see his eyes but he wonders suddenly if they'd be like they were the other day, when he'd seen Patrick's pupils dilated. Like he's sure his had been and were now.

"Dude, yeah. Your dick would be in my arse or vice versa." Patrick is breathless now at the turn the conversation is taking. "It takes a bit of preparation you know but once it's in, it's fun, there's this spot inside that if you hit it, the guy you're inside goes insane, it can make them come."

"So you've uh, had sex before then?" Carl asks Patrick hesitantly.

"Well, yeah, a couple of times, just before all the shit went down you know?" Patrick says. Carl nods.

"Did you, were you?" Carl has no idea how to phrase the question he wants to ask.

Patrick sighs. "What you're trying to say is 'did you top or did you bottom?' that's the phrasing with guys. You top as in your dick goes inside the other guy or you bottom meaning that you take the dick, or you switch or flip, meaning you top and bottom. And to answer your question I did both, with this school friend. We were messing around, experimenting." Patrick pauses before continuing. "He was the first dead person I killed." Carl doesn't ask details. If Patrick wanted to tell him he would, but that would have been difficult, almost as difficult as what he'd had to do.

"I can't even think of that, I mean I, we only just kissed kind of." Carl trails off, he is hard and he can see Patrick is too. "I'm sorry if I did it wrong Pat." He apologises and Patrick gapes at him.

"Did what wrong?" He has no idea what Carl is talking about.

"I kissed you wrong, you groaned and stuff." Carl hangs his head.

"I groaned because you made me come, the stuff we'd been talking about had turned me on, I was telling the truth when I said if I kissed you I'd come. I did come Carl." Carl looks up at Patrick through his lashes again.

"You did? From my kissing you?" He asks as his dick does a very hard happy dance in his cargos.

"Yeah man, I did and if I kiss you like I want to now, it'll happen again so I'll be working in funky pants for the rest of the day." Patrick shakes his head as he sits down on the bench Rick had set under the lean-to.

"Take your pants down then." Carl speaks bluntly despite feeling his face heat up again.

"What?" Patrick feels like he's in the Twilight zone.

"I want you to kiss me Pat, now." Carl steps forward until he is standing directly in front of Patrick. "But I don't know what I'm doing, how to do it right, so you need to kiss me, to show me." Some part of Carl, maybe that muscle memory or genetics takes over again and he looks back at Patrick through his lashes, instinctively knowing that Patrick likes him doing that before continuing. "If you come, I'll clean you up, swallow it for you."

"Fuck Carl, you can't just say shit like that!" Patrick's dick jumps in his pants as he hisses at Carl. Even though his parents were well and truly dead he still felt weird using the F word, like he was disobeying them or something. Which was stupid when he thought about it. "And Jesus Pat, could you stop for a second and think of the real conversation you're having?" He mutters to himself and is startled when Cal laughs at him. "What?" He looks at Carl standing in front of him, but is attention is not on Carl's face. It's on the hard dick he can see pushing against Carl's cargos.

"You were talking to yourself again. And what shit can't I say? That I want you to kiss me or that if you came I'd clean you up? Because if you do kiss me Pat and you come, I will clean you up. If you don't want me to swallow you even though you said that's what someone who was good did I'll find a rag for you." Carl pauses and Patrick sees him looking at him through his lashes again before he continues. "But you said that you liked me, so that means you should want to kiss me. I want to kiss you Pat too. Now." Carl kneels there in the dirt between Patrick's legs and places his palms on Patrick's knees. He looks at Patrick straight on this time. "Kiss me Pat."

Patrick is powerless to resist Carl. And if Carl ever figures that out he'll be at the guy's mercy. He's already at his mercy because he's gonna kiss him. He's gonna kiss him and come in his pants again because there is no way he's displaying his dick for Carl until Cal will display his in return and he'd already said he wasn't ready.

"Shit, c'mere then." So saying Patrick reaches out and yanks Carl into his arms. "You want to ask me questions wait until I'm finished, for now, follow my lead." And Patrick kissed Carl. He didn't pussyfoot around, he slanted his lips over Carl's and opened them pushing his tongue straight into Carl's mouth. Patrick knew he didn't look like much, but he knew he could kiss. His best friend Luke had convinced him to let his older sister practice kissing on him. Patrick hadn't been turned on by her, but he'd learned from her just as much as she'd learned from him.

Carl's fingers flex on his knees and dig in and Patrick grins to himself. Yeah, he liked it alright. His hands move from Carl's shoulders, sliding up his neck and cupping the back of Carl's head to control his movement better as they twined in Carl's hair. It was soft. So very soft and fine as it sifted through is fingers. Patrick loved how long it was. It wasn't girly at all, it was just Carl.

Moaning softly Patrick pulls away, kissing across Carl's cheek and down his neck leaving soft, wet open-mouthed kisses in his wake. Carl was trembling in his arms, small choked whimpers coming from his throat. Patrick could feel him moving instinctively against his own dick. He doubted Carl even realised he was bringing himself off on him.

Pulling back a little he looks at Carl. His cheeks were flushed, his freckles standing out in relief and his lashes lay against his cheeks. His lips were swollen from Patrick himself, making him want to take them again. And so he does, licking them with his tongue first before he fists his hands back in Carl's hair and pulls, tilting Carl's head back, exposing his throat to him even more before he hovers his mouth over Carl's, just breathing on him. He was waiting.

And Carl opened his eyes. His pupils were blown so wide Patrick saw no colour, only black. And the look in them was slumberous, sexy as hell. He moans this time as he lowers his mouth again and pushes his tongue into Carl's mouth again. This time Carl pushes his tongue back. He is sweet tasting on Patrick's tongue.

And that movement of Carl's tongue pushes Patrick over the edge and he gasps loudly into Carl's mouth as his dick erupts in his pants. He realises dimly that Carl had shot too but is too wrapped in his own orgasm to care.

Slowly he pulls away from Carl's tempting mouth. His lips were bitten now and cherry red as well as being swollen. He'd done that. He'd made him look like that. Patrick feels his dick jump happily in his pants again as he looks at Carl's satisfied smile as it winds its way across his face.

"You liked that huh? Made you come too I know. Guess I should be right proud now shouldn't I?" Patrick laughs softly as he breathes on a hand and buffs his nails against his chest.

Carl snorts at him. "Oh yeah, you made me come. But I made you come too Pat." Carl places a palm on Patrick's hardening cock. "And is that because of me too?" He smiles at Patrick and Patrick nearly moans again as he looks at him from under his lashes.

"Man, when you're legal you are gonna be lethal. Lethal. Shit what am I saying? You're lethal now." He shakes his head. Then lifting it he looks at Carl. "Where's that rag you promised me?" Carl's eyes flutter as he comes back to the present. He looks at Patrick.

"I lied Pat, I won't help you find one. I want to clean you up myself. Say yes." Carl says. Patrick's head falls back on the wall of the lean-to with a thump.

Suddenly he feels about a hundred years old. "You're gonna be the death of me you know." Patrick sighs heavily wondering how many more times he's going to come while Carl 'practices' on him as he cleans him up today.

"This time has to be quick or your father is gonna know we goofed off. And I don't know about you but I don't need any sort of parental lecture right now, it would scar me for life and I'd never come again. My balls would shrivel up and fall of from lack of use." Patrick smiles as Carl laughs at him quietly.

"Understood, maybe I should find that rag and we should pick this up later. Maybe tonight or tomorrow?" Carl asks showing some uncertainty. As if he thinks Patrick's going to leave and change his mind.

Patrick nods and waits while Cal hunts up a rag. It's covered in dust and grime but it does the job except now his cock feels gritty, but it was preferable to spunky. Before they step out of the shadow of the lean-to Patrick hooks an arm around Carl's neck drawing him in and up against his body.

Carl feels good in his arms. "Man you feel good, can't wait to lay you right out and just lick you all over." Patrick lays a soft kiss on Carl's lips, the swelling is going down and while that's good, he's also sad to see the effect he has on Carl vanish. "Now, just so you get it through your retard skull. I like you, want to mess around with you, you turn me on, you make me come. I want to do the same with you and for you. So when you're ready, we can move on, but if you want to just fool around and kiss for a while, well I'm happy with that too. Got it?" Patrick looks down at Carl seriously, not saying anything, making sure that he understands he's serious.

Nodding Carl leans up and kisses Patrick, soft and wet before he steps back. "You like me, want to fool around with me and you're happy to go at my pace. Check." And then Carl smiles brilliantly and Patrick's dick jumps back to red alert again.

"So when can I swallow your come?"

Patrick narrows his eyes. Brat is messing with him, he just knows it. Well he could mess right back. Leaning down he kisses Carl in return and then slides his mouth over to Carl's ear before he whispers "When you come from me rimming you, then you can swallow my come. You gotta earn it kid." Patrick licks Carl's ear, smiling as he feel's Carl shiver as his tongue winds its way around the rim of his ear. "Shower together tonight?" He asks as he steps back and grabs the hoe.

"Uh, yeah okay." Carl answers absentmindedly. He grabs a hoe as well and they walk out to the field. "Pat?" Carl asks.

"Yeah?" Patrick is already focused on the hoeing they have to do, it's going to be a bitch.

"What's rimming?" Shit. Patrick thought. Shit.


	4. Chapter 4

Carl can barely concentrate. His dick keeps jerking in his cargos because he can't stop thinking about meeting Patrick in the showers tonight. He wants to kiss Pat again in the worst way, and come again. And he wants to taste Patrick's come too. Almost more than he wants to come again himself. He is distracted all afternoon as he and Patrick work.

Rimming. That sounded weird. But Carl trusted Patrick's experience and if he said it was enjoyable, he'd be willing to try it. Eventually. Patrick had gone on his way not long ago to his own afternoon chores. None of the kids their age had as many obligations as Carl but he was okay with that. He wasn't like the other kids.

He jumps when an arm loops around his shoulders and squeezes him up against a firm female body. "Hey." He says on a huffing laugh.

"Hey yourself runt." Michonne automatically starts helping him and they work companionably. "You been hanging with Patrick lately?" She asks as they work.

Carl stops working and looks at her. "You know I have been. Why?" He asks curiously.

"Just wondering what teenage boys talk about is all. I mean I assume you talk about jerking off and girls and maybe have spitting contests or peeing contests, but I just don't know." Michonne stops working as well, looking over at Carl as he stares at her.

Shrugging Carl returns to his work. "All of the above mostly and some other stuff." He's never lied to Michonne but that doesn't mean he has to tell her every little detail. If she asks directly he'll answer, that is also another deal they have.

"And some other stuff huh? Like maybe kissing and jerking off together?" She asks quietly. Carl doesn't stop working, he needs to finish his sowing today.

"Yeah, Patrick's teaching me stuff, now that I've discovered what an orgasm is." He looks up at Michonne through his hair as she looks at him. She shrugs this time as she returns to help him sow the seeds they've got. "It's your fault you know." He grins at her as she stops and frowns at him.

"What's my fault runt?"

"Well, you told me to ask him about fucking two guys at the same time and shit. And we just kind of went from there. He's a cool dude, I like hanging with him." Carl finishes his row and waits for Michonne to finish hers before they move to the last rows.

"You like hanging with him, or you like him?" Michonne wonders if Carl thinks of Patrick as just someone convenient to practice on.

"He makes me feel funny in the stomach, makes me hard when I think of him, makes me come when he kisses me. I like him and I like hanging with him, why are you asking me this Mich?" Carl looks over at her as they continue to slowly move back down their rows.

"TMI runt, TMI. And I wanted to make sure he hadn't pushed you into anything because he's a couple of years older and I've heard him talking. I also wanted to make sure that you weren't using him for experience because you're discovering yourself."

"What's TMI? And no, like I said I like him. And he's already said he likes me. And what have you heard him talking about?" Carl is curious. He and Patrick hang together alone a lot, they don't hang together with others. He frowns wondering why they don't. He'll have to ask.

"TMI is too much information…" Carl snorts and speaks before Michonne can continue.

"Just like you talking to me about having sex with Dad and Daryl at the same time you mean? If you can TMI then so can I. It's nice to talk about Pat with someone who isn't gonna be dumb about it."

Michonne continues. "And I'm glad you like him and that he likes you. And I've only heard him talking about past experience. He's seen a fair bit since the infection hit and I got the impression he's done some of it as well. I just don't want you to get hurt." Michonne finishes.

"I can take care of myself." Carl answers as he finally finishes his last row. Again he waits for Michonne to finish hers. They walk back to the lean-to in silence, her arm slung around his shoulders again.

"I know you can, I wasn't talking about physically. I was talking about if this gets involved." Michonne taps her fingers against Carl's breastbone indicating his heart.

"Oh, okay. Thanks, I don't know. I mean I like Pat, he makes me feel kind of breathless you know?" Michonne nods. "But I don't know if that means I have feeling feelings for him you know?" Michonne nods again.

"I'm here when you need me runt, if you need me. And if you need anything from outside as well." Carl frowns.

"What do you mean outside?"

Michonne purses her lips. "Guys usually need something to aid you when you're messing around if you're going all the way. Unlike women you don't self-lubricate so much, or at least not where you get penetrated when you're aroused."

"Oh, okay then, I guess so. Thanks." Carl is puzzled and puts the question away to ask Pat later in the showers. "Uh, we're taking a shower tonight at the same time." He says no more and Michonne looks at him.

"I take it I'm to distract your Dad because you're planning on taking a long shower?"

Carl shrugs. "I figure I'll tell him I'm going to hang with Pat and then take a shower before I come back. That should hold him, plus he'll be with Jude anyway." Michonne shakes her head.

"Sly boy, very sly."

"Hey, I learned it from you." Narrowing her eyes Michonne reaches for him but he dances out of her reach. At the lean-to Carl puts their tools away and then he surprises Michonne by standing on the bench to look her in the eyes, or slightly down at her now.

"Mich, I have a favour I need." Carl looks down while Michonne's brain works triple time trying to figure out what Carl's favour is, she has a feeling she is going to be in over her head with whatever he asks. "Would you kiss me?" Her brain had just figured it would be something like that when Carl spoke.

Michonne sighs. "Why?" She needs to know before she even thinks about answering.

"Well, I like Pat but I don't know how much. I've never kissed anyone but him, I figure if I get the same response from kissing you that I get kissing him then I can kind of figure out how much I like him." Carl trails off thinking he's made a huge mistake.

Then Michonne steps up to him. "You tell your father or Daryl about this and I will gut you runt, without a second thought." And she lays her lips softly across his. Carl angles his head and opens his lips, swiping his tongue across Michonne's. Beyond a sharply inhaled breath Michonne has no other reaction. She allows Carl to push his tongue softly into her mouth and she twines hers around his.

But she does not push her tongue into Carl's mouth, she does not touch him in any other way. Pulling away Carl licks his lips as Michonne looks at him evenly. She's smiling at him. "Patrick taught you well, you're gonna be a regular heartbreaker when you're older runt."

"Thanks, Pat said I was going to be lethal is that the same thing?" Michonne snorts a laugh.

"Kind of, heartbreaker means you can break someone's heart, mess with their emotions, people will want you but they won't get you. Lethal is kind of similar. Means you'll be really cool, popular, people will want to be with you."

"Sounds like you both expect me to turn into some weird shitty adult. Brilliant, you both have so much confidence in me." Carl frowns as he steps down and walks toward the buildings.

Michonne's eyebrows rise as she lets him go. It was rare to see temper on him these days. But she was right, Patrick had taught him well. He'd kissed like he'd been doing it for years, not days if that. Pursing her lips Michonne meanders off, maybe a word with Patrick was in order.

##########

Carl goes to his room after dinner and lies down on his bed. He is still fuming. At Michonne and now Patrick as well. Was that what they really thought of him? That he was using Patrick? That he'd dump him when he found someone else? Carl had only ever liked one other person before and he'd never known he was alive in that way. Cassidy in second grade didn't count. His crush on her had lasted until he'd heard her squeal in his ear. She'd given him a huge headache and he'd sworn to only hang out with guys ever since. It didn't hurt that he genuinely enjoyed the company of men better anyway. Except for Sophia. Carl pushes that memory away forcefully. She was dead, she wasn't coming back.

Carl is so irritated he very nearly doesn't keep his date with Patrick but decides to go. He needed to explain that what Patrick was doing with him wasn't something he didn't care about and that he wasn't going to be off looking for someone else when he felt he had enough experience. And Carl wants to know if Patrick is going to run off with another guy if someone more his age and experience level comes through the gates one day soon.

Grabbing his towel and his pyjamas Carl walks to his father's room. "Dad, I'm gonna go hang out with Pat for a bit, then I'll grab a shower on the way back." He doesn't ask permission, he knows his father will be okay with it.

"Sure Carl, come say goodnight to your sister." Carl smiles as he dumps his stuff on the bed and takes Jude from his father's arms. He jiggles her the way she likes and kisses her forehead before he lays her down in her cot. She laughs up at him. As he turns he sees Michonne and Daryl standing there.

"Hey." He says to them both not quite looking Michonne in the eyes though he looks at Daryl. Looking at the cards Michonne is holding he grins evilly. "I'll just close the door on the way out, wouldn't want people to see the nudity when you two lose your clothes to Dad now. He's a mean poker player."

"Carl!" Rick exclaims as Michonne laughs and Daryl smirks.

"Night Dad." Carl says as he grabs his pyjamas and towel and takes off laughing, closing the door and drawing the curtain as he said he would. He hears Daryl's chuckle as he walks away.

"Kids observant, I fuckin' told you that Rick." Carl shakes his head. Yeah he'd known they were doing something, now he knew exactly what shit they did it was kind of different to know that but Michonne and Daryl made his Dad smile and laugh. As long as they continued to do so he didn't care what the heck they actually did with each other. Besides he couldn't talk anymore anyway.

Walking to the showers Carl realises he's not mad anymore. He resolves to still speak to Patrick but to not get mad. He didn't want to argue tonight. He wanted to kiss Pat some more. Turning the corner to the hallway of the shower room Carl comes upon Patrick standing there with his towel and a pair of sweatpants hanging from one shoulder.

"Hey dude, going my way?" He asks in a breathy voice as he wiggles his eyebrows. Carl frowns.

"What are you doing? Are you messing with me too? I've had enough of that today. And I'm not going to be lethal you know, I'm not a shitty unfeeling person, I'm not going to be a heartbreaker either." Shit. Carl suddenly realises he'd nearly been yelling at Patrick and from the look on his face he had no idea what he was talking about it.

"Shit, sorry Pat. I thought I wasn't mad anymore. Maybe we should just not do anything tonight." Carl turns to go but Patrick grabs his arm and pulls him into one of the rooms. It's an office. Closing and locking the door Patrick turns up the battery lantern he'd brought with him. Then he surprises Carl by turning and dropping his sweatpants, shoving them along the bottom of the door so no light will show to people walking past.

Then he crowds in on Carl, pushing him up against the desk. Carl feels his dick start to harden and can't help the groan that comes out of his mouth. He catches Pat's smile before his lips cover his. Carl opens his mouth as wide as he can when Patrick kisses him. His hands drop his own clothing and towel and twist around Patrick's back, bunching his shirt up in his hands. Carl jerks when Patrick pulls back and pulls his t-shirt off over his head and is then back kissing Carl again.

He pushes Carl's long-sleeved shirt off his shoulders and then yanks his t-shirt up and off as well, Carl feel his hair get messy and raises his hands to try to push it back into shape.

"No, leave it, I like it messy. Makes it look like I've messed it up." Patrick's voice is husky and as he leans back in Carl feels his dick hard against his own. And he realises he'd never gotten hard with Michonne today. Question answered.

Patrick strokes his hands up, messing Carl's hair more as he does so, then he strokes them down Carl's back and up again coming around to the front where his fingers take hold of Carl's nipples and he rolls them. "Oh, Pat, uh." Carl has no thought in his head, his dick jumps in his pants, pushing against his cargos insistently. Carl palms it, trying to get comfortable, the backs of his fingers brush against Patrick's dick as he does so and Patrick groans into Carl's mouth.

Breaking away Carl takes several deep breaths as he tries not to come in his pants but Patrick is relentlessly pushing him toward an orgasm with his fingers on his nipples. "Gonna come." He says drawing in a deep breath.

"Pull your pants down then retard." Patrick's voice is amused and his fingers are relentless on Carl's nipples. Carl's hands jerk and fumble as he undoes his belt and button and zip, he pushes his cargos and briefs down then his hands flail as he feels his balls draw up and his dick just spurts without a touch on it.

"Oh shit!" He exclaims. Carl's hands fall back and he catches the side of the desk holding himself upright as his orgasm blasts through him.

All the while Patrick is playing with his nipples, rolling them, pinching them, flicking them. He doesn't stop until Carl winces in pain. Then he palms Carl's pectoral muscles and smiles down at Carl who slowly lets himself lie down on the desk, legs just dangling off the side. "They feel hot." He says to Carl.

Frowning Carl looks up at him. "What's hot?" Patrick smiles some more. Letting go of Carl's pectoral muscle with one hand he takes one of Carl's and brings it to his chest.

"Your nipples, that's what. They feel hot to the touch, its sexy. They liked what I did to them, just like you liked it enough to come." Patrick let's go of Carl's hand and pulls his other one away. He looks down at himself, Carl can see his dick is hard in his pants as he now palms both his nipples.

"You gonna come?" He asks as he holds his own pectoral muscles feeling how heated his nipples actually were. Patrick was right, they were hot to the touch. And sensitive and they felt swollen.

"Thought I'd jerk off yeah. Why?" Patrick asks as he looks down at Carl. He swipes his hand across his thigh and pulls it back sniffing it with a smile. Then he turns it around to Carl so he can see that he's got some come on it. "You mind?" Patrick asks. Carl shakes his head and Patrick sucks his fingers into his mouth moaning at the taste. "You taste amazing, can't wait until I drink it direct from your dick Carl."

Carl's dick jumps at the thought of Patrick giving him a blow job. But he doesn't ask for it now. He's just come and besides he wants to see Patrick come. Raising up and pushing himself further back on the desk Carl leaves his cargo's and briefs hanging around his legs. He wants to see Patrick jerk himself off so he knows how to do it to him next time but he's still out of breath and doesn't trust himself to stand.

"Stand between my legs Pat, I want to see you jerk yourself off. I don't mind if you come on me." Carl has no idea what he's asking but he knows he's done something from the sharp in drawn breath Patrick gives in answer. Carl half closes his eyes and looks at Patrick through his lashes. "Please?" He sees Patrick's eyes close and knows he's going to do as he's asked.

Moving to stand between Carl's legs, Patrick leans a narrow bony hip on Carl's inner thigh and opens his pants, pushing them down along with his briefs. He starts to stroke himself off slowly looking at Carl all the while.

"Stop." Carl says suddenly. Patrick freezes and looks uncertain. Carl sits up and reaches for Patrick's glasses taking them off, "The light was reflecting on your glasses, I couldn't see your eyes." He explains as he lays back down putting Patrick's glasses safely to the side with the lantern. Patrick smiles at him suddenly and Carl's own breath catches. "You're so pretty Pat." He says without thinking and when Patrick grins at him more he can feel his own face heating up and knows he's blushing. He closes his eyes when Patrick laughs. "Shut up." He says putting an arm over his face to hide his blush.

Then he feels weight on him and he groans realising Patrick has leaned down on him, Carl can feel the hard rod of Patrick's erection against his stomach. Then a hand pulls his arm away from his face. "No hiding Carl, I want to see you, watch you. You're pretty too you know." Carl looks up at Patrick, he looks so different without his glasses, his eyes are bigger, his lashes longer.

"Your lashes are nearly as long as mine." He says to Patrick without thinking. "I hate mine." Carl bites his lip again and watches Patrick's eyes dip to his lips and stay there.

"They are kind of girly." Patrick says unthinkingly. Then he flinches when Carl swings an arm out and back, landing a solid punch on his bicep. "Dude! What the hell?" He asks standing up again to rub his arm.

"I'm not girly!" Carl answers him. Patrick looks at him still rubbing his arm.

"Did I say you were girly? No I f-ing didn't, I said your lashes were kind of girly. Not you." He leans down again resting on his elbows so he has some distance now. "And while we're on the what is girly subject, dudes are not pretty dude. Got that?" Patrick leans down and brushes his lips against Carl's softly. Then he pushes his hips forward, grinding himself down on Carl in a parody of having sex.

"Oh, Pat, uh…" Carl can't say anything more which Patrick takes as a compliment.

"Yeah, this is another way, we rub off on each other until we come. You want to do this instead of watching me jack off?" Patrick asks as he continues to place soft wet kisses over Carl's face and neck. He wants to suck on Carl's skin and bring up a hickey that other's will see but knows he can't.

"Uh, ohhhhh…" Carl trails off again, his back arches and his neck falls back, it is exposed and vulnerable to Patrick and he takes immediate advantage, wrapping his lips around Carl's burgeoning Adam's apple. Carl finally finds his voice again. "This next time, jerk off, wanna see you, learn what you like." He breaks off with a breathless moan as Patrick gives in and sucks on his skin.

Then he pulls himself up and back slowly. Carl moans this time in disappointment. Patrick smiles at him though. "Next time huh? I like the sound of that Carl." He smiles again and his hands drift down to his dick. Carl sits up now, his own fingers latching onto Patrick's nipples. He mimics Patrick's movements, pulling, rolling and flicking them and Patrick's head falls back now as he moans making Carl grin.

"God Pat." He says as he watches Patrick in his pleasure. His own dick is already hard again and he wants to rub it off on Patrick's like they'd just been doing, mix their come and taste it. Scooting forward Carl continues to play with Patrick's nipples as his legs spread around Patrick's narrow hips. He had more pubic hair than Carl did, it was a dark brown colour like the hair on his head and under his arms. Carl didn't have underarm hair yet but he wanted it badly.

Letting go of one nipple Carl skims his hand down to Patrick's pubic hair, threading his fingers through it as he looks down, focusing on Patrick jerking himself off. He jerked firmly, twisting his hand a little when he got to the head of his dick. It was different to Carl's, longer and thicker though Carl noted he didn't have the veins that he'd noticed on himself lately.

"My balls, touch them." Patrick whispers raggedly. Carl looks up at him through his lashes and Patrick groans and dips his head to kiss him. Carl responds and kisses Patrick, thrusting his tongue in and out of his mouth as one hand continues to play with Patrick's nipples and the other moves down through Patrick's pubic hair to touch his balls. He strokes them softly, feels the weight of them in his hand. They're different to his, his aren't as developed yet.

"Will mine get bigger like yours Pat?" Carl asks as he pulls on them gently before he cups them, his thumb just stroking over the flesh.

"Questions later dude…." Patrick answers as he groans. His head is hanging so far back on his neck now it looks painful. As Carl cups Patrick's balls his long middle finger touches the skin behind them and Patrick moans a breathy yes. So Carl lets his middle finger play there. Dropping his hand from Patrick's nipples Carl grips his own cock knowing when Patrick comes he's going to come again as well.

"My hole, touch my hole Carl, please?" Patrick begs of Carl, he has raised his head and is looking down at Carl now, watching him watching his own hands as they fondle his own cock and Pat's. Carl looks up.

"Just touch?" He asks hesitantly. Patrick nods and so Carl lets his own fingers push further back, making a breathless little sound at the heat he feels there. Patrick's legs shuffle apart and in the process Carl's middle finger slides over Patrick's entrance, his fingernail scraping it harshly.

"Oh shit!" Is all Patrick can say as he suddenly orgasms, his dick jumping and spurting his come up and out. It lands all over Carl's arms and hands and thighs. Carl's own dick jerks in his hand and he explodes again as well. Their come mingles as their scents mingle. And they both groan and laugh as it happens.

Their fingers slip and slide over each other as they try to grab as much as they can and lick and taste each other. Then Patrick pushes Carl back on the desk and rubs his stomach over Carl's, grinding into him, rubbing the leftover come into their skin.

"Shit dude, you are sexy." He says to Carl as he leans on his elbows looking at him as he feels his dick start to get hard alongside Carl's again.

Carl blushes. "No, I'm not. But you are Pat, really sexy." He answers. Patrick stands up and Carl sits up. He watches as Patrick pulls up his underwear and pants and then bends over for their shirts. Carl stands and pulls his own underwear and cargos up. He takes his t-shirt and drops it over his head but leaves off the long-sleeved shirt. They dress in silence, but it's a comfortable silence.

They'd already figured there would be a next time. But Carl still had a question. "Hey Pat? How come we don't hang out together inside? I mean at meals and stuff?" He asks unsurely. Patrick stops and looks at him.

"I didn't think you wanted to Carl, you've never asked me to eat with you or anything, you always eat with your own group and stuff." He shrugs and looks away picking up his towel but Carl had seen his eyes.

"We lived together for a couple of years you know, at the farm, on the road and then here before Woodbury came and then we started taking in others like you. We're family, not blood, but family. It's hard. Like Michonne barely speaks to most of us, she hangs mostly with Dad and Daryl and Herschel." Carl pauses. "We've learned the hard way not to trust too easily. But you'd be welcome to sit with me, us anytime Pat, anytime." Reaching out Carl lays a hand on Patrick's forearm feeling the muscles bunch and writhe under his touch.

"Yeah? You'd sit with me, hang around me with others?" Patrick asks quietly.

"I would." Carl answers just as quietly. His brow furrow as Patrick looks at him seriously.

"And what if I did this in public?" Suddenly Patrick leans in and kisses Carl, a hand pulling on him until their bodies are flush against each other and he then skates it down over Carl's arse giving him a squeeze before he lets go and pulls back.

Carl is floundering in arousal. "Pat!" He blushes furiously knowing Patrick had done it on purpose to lighten them up, distract him and make him laugh. He was good at that. But two can play that game. "If you did that, I'd do this in return." Carl says. And he steps back up to Patrick and lays his palm flat over Patrick's own hard on.

Patrick thrusts into Carl's hand before he can stop himself. He hangs his head in defeat and laughs. "Hands off retard, I need a shower more than ever now thanks to you." He pauses and winks at Carl, "You can feel me up when you've got some soap in your hands okay?"

Carl grins and nods. "Deal." He grabs his towel and pyjamas and then they stop at the door as he unlocks it quietly. They listen without hearing anything and then Patrick snuffs the lantern and grabs up his sweatpants and they exit together, carefully closing the door behind them and heading to the showers.


	5. Chapter 5

Carl slowly drifts to consciousness. It's early and there is a chill in the air signaling the end of summer. He can feel his dick hard in his pyjamas as usual. Normally he'd jerk off, it had become habit to push his hand under his pyjamas and jerk himself off and clean himself up. But he doesn't this morning.

Rolling on his stomach Carl thinks of the past few months. Since he'd brought up the subject of sex with Patrick in the form of a threesome albeit without any intention of causing what had happened, he and Pat had pretty much been together.

Were he and Patrick boyfriends now? Carl had heard Beth and Zach talking and she'd called him her boyfriend and he'd called her his girlfriend. He and Pat couldn't be that because they were both guys, but could or were they each other's boyfriends?

Shoving his pillow under his head Carl stares unseeing at the far wall of his room. He remembers telling Patrick about his first orgasm, their first kiss. The first time they'd come together, rubbing off, watching and then jerking each other off. Tasting each other's come. Closing his eyes Carl tries to calm himself down.

He wasn't thinking of this to get off, he was trying to figure out what they were to each other. After that night in the office where he'd yelled at Patrick and Patrick had given him an orgasm they'd started hanging out with each other in public. Patrick ate with him now, every time they ate at the same time, they ate together.

It was nice, Pat got on well with everyone in Carl's original group, his father seemed to like him, Michonne talked to him though Carl didn't think Patrick would ever be comfortable around her. Carl thought he was kind of growing somewhat comfortable around Daryl. Daryl had even started taking him outside the gates, hunting and stuff. Pat was soaking up that knowledge like a sponge.

He was leaving off his glasses where he could, Daryl was right, glasses were only going to get harder to find, he should get as used to going without them as he could, Daryl said his other senses would compensate to a degree and Pat had said they were starting to. He was more long sighted anyway which was better than short-sighted.

Sighing Carl closes his eyes. He lets himself drift back to sleep only to wake later, upon feeling a hand trailing down his back, under the sheet to cup his backside. He grins into the pillow. "You're feeling me up? I'm a minor you know." He laughs lightly as the long narrow fingers that play him so well, lightly pinch his butt cheek instead of caressing it as they had been.

Rolling on his side he looks down at Pat who was kneeling on the floor. In turning over Pat's hand had come to rest on Carl's still hard dick. He takes advantage by grasping it and tugging. Carl arches into his touch without thought, they're so in tune with each other now. They can almost look at each other and know what the other is thinking.

Groaning softly, Carl reaches for Patrick's other hand as he thrusts up into the warmth of the one imprisoning his dick. "Yes Pat, please." He says breathlessly. Leaning up Carl takes a greedy tongue twining, toe curling kiss before he lays back on the bed allowing Patrick to jerk him off. But he stops suddenly, hand fisting Carl's cock as he looks down at him.

"When can I suck you off?" He asks Carl. Carl swallows. They've been moving at his pace, and for the most part Carl is happy with what they're doing, but he knows that sucking each other off and eventually sex is going to happen.

Truthfully he wants to suck Pat off in the worst way but he flat-out knows he's not ready for sex and he's afraid that once they start blowing each other that sex will follow before he's ready.

"I want you to…" He trails off without finishing his sentence. Pat pumps his dick a couple of times before stopping and waiting.

"But?" He questions Carl.

"I'm afraid that," Carl pauses before he gathers his courage and speaks. "I'm not ready for sex, proper sex you know?" Patrick frowns and nods.

"Yeah, I know you're nowhere near ready dude and I'm okay with that." He pumps a couple more times but stops again knowing Carl isn't finished. He waits for Carl to work out his words and then speak again.

"I'm afraid that if I blow you and you blow me we'll have sex quicker than I'm ready for Pat. I know I want to have sex with you, sometimes I want it so bad, but I also know I'm not ready yet, no matter what my dick says, you know?" Patrick pumps him again and stops. And he nods.

"Yeah, I know. I think I fell into it too early, I felt like shit for ages after we'd had real sex. The messing around and shit was fine, the BJ's were fine, finger f-ing," Carl grins at Patrick still having trouble saying fuck. "All that shit we did with no problem, but when I let Scott screw me, I felt like shit. It wasn't until it was over that I realised I wasn't ready." He snorts inelegantly and looks down at Carl, "Pretty stupid huh?"

Carl shakes his head, "No. It's something you can't take back. It's gone forever, I get it completely Pat." Sitting up again Carl hugs Patrick and pulls him down on top of him, spreading his legs so Patrick is lying between him.

"We can't do this here dude." Patrick says though he doesn't move.

"I know, I'll get up in a sec, just wanted to feel all of you, you going out with Daryl today?" Carl nuzzles Patrick's neck, kissing and licking it as he does so.

Patrick groans and thrusts on him slowly, their dicks covered by clothes and sheets and blankets rub against each other. "Yeah, he said before we'll be gone a couple of days." Patrick shifts off Carl slowly. He moves to sit on the side of the bed. Carl sits up and swings his legs to the side.

Standing he stretches, deliberately giving Patrick a show, allowing his pyjama bottoms to slide down his arse and expose his ever-growing thatch of pubic hair in front. A firm slap on his rear end makes him yelp and turn around. Narrowing his eyes Carl looks at Patrick who is staring back innocently.

Before he can say anything the door is shoved open and Rick sticks his face around the curtain. "Oh good, you're up. You're a sleepy head this morning. Morning Patrick. Hurry up Carl, we've got a long day ahead of us." Rick frowns as he sees what Carl is only half wearing. "Pull your pants up Carl." Rick shakes his head and disappears, Carl hears his footsteps moving down toward the main room where breakfast is served.

"Shit that was lucky." Patrick leans back against the wall wiping a hand over his brow. His hard on has fizzled down to nothing, his balls drawing up in fear. He looks up to see Carl hasn't moved, is in fact looking down at him in a very predatory way.

"Yeah it was, but you know what it means?" He asks as he steps forward on the balls of his feet. Now Patrick really feels hunted.

"No, what does it mean?" He's still freaking over the close call with Carl's dad. He shouldn't come into Carl's cell, he couldn't resist Carl, he already knew that.

"It means he's not coming back up here so I can do this." So saying Carl kneels and begins to open Patrick's own cargos.

"Shit Carl! We'll get caught, stop it!" But he doesn't fight hard enough. Carl has his cargo's open and his hand has pushed into his briefs.

"If I do this right I'll give you something to remember me by Pat, I want to do that." Carl looks up at Patrick and lowers his head to his dick.

"Shit Carl!" Patrick hisses again but it is too late. Carl already has Patrick's dick in his hand and Patrick gasps as his fingers pull him gently from his pants. Looking up at Patrick through his lashes Carl smiles at him before lowering his head again.

Patrick can feel his dick jerk as Carl's breath teases him. "Oh God." He whispers softly. His hands come up of their own volition and wind through Carl's soft hair. He loves Carl's hair.

"Carl! I said get a move on!" Rick's voice bellows from below. Carl jumps and Patrick heaves a sigh of relief.

"Coming Dad." Carl yells back. Then he turns to Patrick, "Just not with my dick."

Patrick lowers his head on a laughing sigh. Carl was truly going to kill him. "Thank F." He mutters even though his hands don't leave Carl's hair. And, "Shit, dude you're f-ing pouting, dudes don't pout." Patrick huffs a laugh at the look on Carl's face.

"Well, I'm finally convinced we'll be okay, that I won't go too far without being ready and my dad is…what do you call it? Cock-blocking? My dad is fucking cock-blocking me." Patrick can't help the laugh that he lets go. It was funny, Carl being cock-blocked by his dad.

"Both of us dude. But, it's probably for the best. I did tell you that you didn't get to suck my cock until I rimmed you to shooting remember?" Patrick is gratified to see Carl's face flush. He stands up having tucked himself away again and grabs Carl's pyjama bottoms, yanking on them to bring Carl forward into his arms. "And dude, I aim to collect on that right f-ing soon." His mouth swoops down on Carl's and Carl opens his in invitation.

What Patrick loved most about Carl was that he never said no. Carl always accepted him, no matter what. And Patrick knew that was a hard thing to find in a significant other. Patrick eventually pulls away from Carl allowing him to step back and dress.

They walk along the catwalk and downstairs together. They don't touch, they don't look at each other in any way other than as friends. "So, I've been thinking." Carl says as they get their breakfast and settle down with Michonne. He glances around to make sure there isn't anyone else nearby. "Oh, Mich close your ears." Patrick freezes at that statement and Carl just grins before continuing, "Now Pat, I figure that if you're gonna rim me before I suck your dick, then I get to make a deal too." Carl's grin is positively angelic now as Patrick chokes and splutters his breakfast all over the table.

Michonne stoically thumps him on the back a couple of times without looking up from her own as Carl offers him a bottle of water.

"Dude…" Patrick hisses before he stops, caught by a coughing fit again. Carl lifts his eyebrows at Patrick and looks at him through is lashes. He ignores Michonne's snort.

"Well, I think that if you're gonna do that to me, then you can. But…" he breaks off to make sure he has Patrick's attention.

"What?" Patrick asks with hesitation now. He knows Carl, he knows he's being played. But he can't help but fall for it. He figures he always will.

"If you can get through the day saying fuck, out loud, not whispering it or saying 'f-ing' or 'f' then I figure you're man enough to rim me." Carl wiggles his eyebrows and stands up taking his plate over to the girl on dishwashing duty.

He grins at her causing her to fumble taking the dishes from him before he puts her from his mind and walks back to Patrick and Michonne.

"Deal?" He asks Patrick as he takes up his water bottle.

Patrick sighs as he looks up at him. "Seriously dude?" He asks somewhat plaintively.

Carl struggles against laughing. The look on Pat's face was almost forlorn, he looked like he was about to cry.

Wiping the grin from his face and the humour from his voice Carl looks sternly down at Patrick. "Seriously dude." He answers before he looks at Michonne and grins. She shakes her head at him and her eyes are caught by someone else behind him.

Turning Carl sees Daryl. "Hey Daryl, will you help with a bet I have with Pat?" Carl asks. He feels more than hears Patrick's absolute horror at the thought that he was going to tell him what the bet was.

"Maybe, what is it?" Daryl hitches his pants and sits down opposite Patrick, Carl sees him skate a finger across Michonne's knuckles as they rest on her water bottle and he grins to himself.

"Just some chores. I'll do Pat's for a couple of days if he can say fuck as fuck, not 'f' or 'f-ing' or whisper it when he says it out on your trip. That okay?" Carl asks knowing it will be.

"Don't see why not, you game Patrick?" Patrick nods. Then he turns to Carl

"Gonna get you for this dude. Fuck you." He says slowly and deliberately trying out the word in company. Company that isn't going to tell him not to swear or rein himself in.

"Patrick, shame on you. I'm not even legal." Carl laughs as he starts to walk away. He was gonna have some fun with this.

"Fuck you dude." Patrick says again and an imp in Carl can't help answering him back.

"Anytime, anywhere…dude." He leaves Patrick blushing furiously as he laughs his way out to his daily chores. He already knew he'd be doing a couple of days work for Patrick because from the temper on his face Patrick was determined to win this bet.

And if he was being honest, he really wanted Pat to win. Having decided that rimming was going to be fun, Carl couldn't wait to experience it. He frowns as he settles down to work throughout the day and his mind works through various places they could go for such a thing. It wasn't going to be easy to carry out.

"Shit." Carl mutters to himself. "Shit." But he couldn't deny the jump his dick gave when he thought of Patrick kissing and licking him there. He couldn't deny that at all.

A smile ghosts over his face as Carl remembers the explanation Pat had given him when he'd asked what rimming was. It made him chuckle to himself now to think of it when Pat had explained it months ago.

Carl frowns, pausing in his work. It had been months. He and Pat had been together, fooling around now for nearly four months. Carl looked around him. They'd had a season together. Shaking his head Carl thinks on that. A season, he'd been with Patrick. And he still hadn't asked him if they were boyfriends.

They were though. Carl decided suddenly. And he'd tell Pat that even if they didn't tell anyone else. If Pat was gonna rim him he was gonna be Carl's boyfriend and know it before he did.

"So did you already know what rimming was or did Pat have to explain that to you too?" Michonne asks as she wanders over and starts helping Carl again. She usually helped him when she was around.

"No, Pat had to explain it to me, was funny." Carl answers her. Michonne shakes her head.

"I bet." Michonne shakes her head. "So why did you do that in front of me this morning? Need witnesses or something?"

"Yeah, he's sixteen now, he should be able to swear when he wants to, I mean it's the end of the world and all that jazz." Carl grins over at Michonne's snort of laughter at his sarcasm.

"Getting a mouth on you runt, Patrick's rubbing off." They work companionably for a while before Michonne continues. "So how did Pat explain rimming then?" Carl smiles to himself at Michonne referring to Patrick as Pat.

"Patrick." He says in return stopping to watch her to make sure she got the message. Raising an eyebrow Michonne stops and looks back. She suddenly realises Carl's growth spurt has hit. He's her height now and she can tell he's still growing.

Nodding her head to show she understands she nevertheless confirms Carl's statement verbally. "Patrick." Carl's smile nearly blinds her. Shaking her head she starts back to their work again. It's some time before Carl answers though Michonne doesn't pressure him. Their relationship is like that. If Carl wasn't going to answer, he'd say so.

"Well he blushed when he told me, I mean it was funny because he was all macho when he said he was going to rim me and then when I asked him what it was he looked like he'd stepped in dog shit or something." Carl laughs and Michonne grins.

"I can respect that. You ask the damnedest questions right out of the blue you know runt." Michonne looks over at Carl seriously, making him aware that what he asked affected people. Carl frowned.

"Yeah, Pat said I had um, no mouth filter sometimes, is that the same thing?" Michonne nods.

"Oh well, anyway. He said…"

* * *

_"Shit." Patrick scrubs his hands over his face, pushing his glasses up on his head. Why the F did he think he could get one up on Carl? He was f-ing stupid to think that. He knew, he f-ing knew that Carl was quick, smart and not afraid to ask questions. "F, it's when someone kisses your arsehole, licks it and stuff Can make you come if it's done right." Patrick sighs and waits for the inevitable questions._

_"So when Dad and Daryl are talking about someone being an arselicker, that's what they're talking about? People actually do that?" Carl's voice is raised several octaves in what Patrick thinks is amazed disgust._

_"Shit." He says again. "Kind of, can we not do this until we're finished working? I'm liable to hoe my freaking foot trying to explain this dude." Carl merely nods and Patrick can tell he's thinking on it and storing up questions. "I swear dude, you must have lived in a bubble or something." He mutters as he puts his glasses back on. He yelps when a clod of dirt suddenly slaps him on the backside. "Dude, what was that for?"_

_"For you making fun of me, it's not my fault my parents didn't let me do stuff like yours." Carl says and Patrick nods suddenly._

_"Yeah you're right, sorry Carl." Patrick calls Carl by his name as he rarely does._

_The smile he gets in return takes the sting out of the dirt and the fact that Carl still has a parent alive when he doesn't. "And it's not like my parents let me, I was good with computers and stuff, I broke their parental controls before they knew where they were." Patrick says and Carl snorts._

_"You rebel you." They both laugh and finish their work in silence._

_When they get back to the lean-to Patrick sits down and drinks some water. Pushing his glasses up on his head again he rubs the bridge of his nose. Carl rolls a drum and sits on it in front of Patrick so he's facing him. Drinking his own water he waits for Patrick to speak._

_"When people talk about someone being an arselicker, it's not a compliment. It means someone will do anything to get in good with someone, to be on the inside?" Patrick question his last sentence looking at Carl to see if he understands._

_"They're sucking up, or suck-ups?" Carl questions._

_Patrick nods. "Exactly, I guess the term arselicker came from rimming, I don't know." Carl interrupts before Patrick can explain further._

_"So why is it called rimming then? Why not arselicking?"_

_"Carl, geez. It's not like I can look it up on urban dictionary dot-com now. I don't know the answer to that okay?" Carl nods. "I only know that rimming refers to the person who is doing it moving their tongue in a circle around your entrance."_

_"Well, have you been rimmed then Pat?" He asks eagerly. Patrick closes his eyes._

_"Yeah and yes I've rimmed as well. I love it." He answers the next questions he can see on Carl's face._

_"But," Carl pauses to wrinkle his nose. "Didn't it taste like poop and stuff?"_

_Patrick laughs, "Good question dude and once I caught that taste yeah. The other couple of times we'd both just had shower so it was good." He stops at looks at Carl who is staring back at him with his eyes wide and cheeks flushed. His freckles are standing out again. Dammit, guy was hot. He was such a goner._

_"Anyway, when I rim you," Patrick lets himself go, saying every dirty, filthy thought of rimming and Carl that he's had in his brain since he'd started to crush on him. "When I rim you, you'll be freshly showered. You'll be warm and your skin will be so soft it'll feel like my oldest and softest t-shirt. I'll start at your lips, biting them and sucking them until they're swollen like they were before. So anyone seeing you dude, will know you've been kissed. Then I'd go down your neck, licking you as I went. And I'd stop some and play with your nipples." Carl frowns and opens his mouth but Patrick continues on before he can speak._

_"Then I'd kiss and lick your chest and stomach. By now you'd be hard, begging for me to touch you. You might have even come already. When I get down to your hips though, I'd flip you over and I'd spread your arse dude. I'd look at you first, just look at your hole and tell you how I was going to touch it, how I was going to lick it and bite it, how I was going to push my tongue inside you there and just do that over and over until you came." Patrick breaks off with a smile as Carl comes now._

_Sitting on the drum he'd seen Carl's dick get hard like his had. And he'd watched as he spoke. Carl had squirmed and spread his legs, he hadn't touched his dick but he'd come anyway from Patrick's words alone. Now that was cool. "Way cool dude, I want to talk you to an orgasm again, that was way cool."_

_Carl just breathes heavily for a few minutes, getting his breath back. "I still think it sounds weird, but you make it sound sexy too Pat. So I'm game if you are." Patrick grins._

_"Oh, you'll like it dude, you came from me talking about it, you'll like it a lot." Carl snorts and shocks the hell out of him as he gets up to go and finish doing his own chores._

_"I came because I was listening to your voice, I was hearing you, not thinking about you rimming me Pat." Patrick blinks and feels himself flush._

_"Dude, seriously?" He asks._

_"Yeah Pat, I like your voice, it's nice." Patrick shakes his head._

_"Later, showers?" He starts backing away and Carl nods._

_"Yeah, tonight." He looks at Carl who looks back and then before Patrick can move, Carl has stepped forward quickly and laid a kiss on his lips. Patrick kisses him back and then turns and takes off. His smile is a mile wide and he's sure if he looked back Carl's would be too._

* * *

"Showering first is a good idea, get yourself clean. But Patrick is right about one thing. It is an amazing feeling. Just make sure you're comfortable because the first time it feels a little weird." Michonne says to Cal as he finishes recounting the conversation he'd had with Patrick. She is smiling at the thought of Patrick eventually rimming Carl.

"Hey Mich?" Carl asks.

"Hmm?" Michonne answers as she thinks of Carl's father and Daryl suddenly. Carl's story had left her a little short of breath herself.

"I just want you to know that whatever our evacuation plan is, our emergency plan, Pat comes with us." Carl stops and looks at Michonne as he says this. He knows that Michonne will understand what he's saying.

"You told your Dad?" Michonne asks him quietly.

"I'm going to tonight." Carl answers her. Michonne nods.

"Got it. For what it's worth, he makes a good addition, comfortable." She pauses before continuing. "Or he will be when he can say two words to me without stuttering." Carl laughs.

"Stop scaring him then." Michonne laughs now.

"Where is the fun in that?"

"Mich. For me?" Carl turns to look at her and Michonne finds herself nodding a yes before she knows where she is. That look. Patrick was right. That look was lethal. The raised eyebrows with the looking up under the lashes. Shaking her head Michonne realised why Patrick looked a little stunned sometimes.

"For you runt, for you alone." Michonne answers Carl's plea.

Carl smiles as they return to their work. He can't wait for Pat to get back even though he'd only been gone a few hours.

He missed him already.


	6. Chapter 6

Five days. They've been gone five days. Daryl had only said two to three. Carl paces the fence line, nearly climbing it.

##########

Rick watches him. He has started to shoot up these past few months. And there is a confidence in him that Rick hadn't noticed before. Puzzling over Carl's anxiety he continues his work. Thinking back on four nights ago when Carl had told him that their immediate family evacuation plan now needed to include Patrick.

He shouldn't have been surprised, they'd become good friends. Better than Rick had ever thought or hoped they would. They reminded him of him and Shane. Except, there was no competition between Carl and Patrick. They were simply very good friends. They never even seemed to argue that he'd seen so far in the months they'd been hanging around together. He and Shane had certainly argued like a couple of feral dogs at times.

It was nice for Carl to have someone his own age. When they go to get the horses Michonne had seen they'll take Patrick. Rick and Daryl and Michonne were going and Rick wanted to take Carl so he could see how Carl felt about their relationship and moving on in that aspect from his mother.

Having Patrick along would give Carl someone to vent to if needed. And someone his own age to be with. Not to mention someone to sleep with. Rick shakes his head at that. But Carl was fourteen or thereabouts now. He needed peers, companions of his own.

"Your runt is worried, he's going to be suggesting we go look for them by sundown I'd wager." Michonne sneaks up as she always does. Daryl and Carl are the only ones who've ever heard her coming.

Rick looks over with a frown. "You think?" He questions quietly as they stop to watch Carl more obviously.

"I do, he's close with Patrick. And Daryl. And he's a little anal about timetables like someone else I know." Rick turns back to Michonne with a slight grin.

"I'm anal?" He questions with a small knowing look.

"Hmm, maybe I should rephrase that to say you're into anal." Michonne moves off, ambling toward Carl as Rick shakes his head at her rare joke and goes back to his work. Something teases his brain for a second and he looks up and over at Carl as Michonne walks toward him. No sooner does it float to the surface of his consciousness than he hears a vehicle.

##########

Carl looks for the vehicle, he recognises the sound of it before he sees it. He moves at a fast jog to the gates and hauls on the rope to open them as Michonne takes care of the Walker lingering there. He lets the rope go and watches the vehicle move up to their parking lot.

He begins to jog there too only to be pulled up by Michonne. "Runt." She calls out as she walks to him slow and steady like always.

"What?" Carl asks irritated.

"Calm down, you'll give yourself away." Michonne answers him quietly as she comes abreast of him. Carl nods and they walk toward the vehicle. He can see Daryl getting out along with Patrick. Both are walking, moving their arms okay. Neither of them seem to be favouring anything. But Carl won't breathe easier until he knows neither of them is harbouring a bite.

"Shit." He says quietly to himself. "Shit."

##########

Michonne looks across at Carl. "You good to speak to him right now?" She asks Carl as they walk toward Patrick and Daryl.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just, I missed him you know?" Carl answers her softly. His eyes have never moved from Patrick's form.

"I do know yes." Michonne returns. "Be careful now, there are eyes everywhere today." Michonne is looking around with a slight frown. Carl breaks eye contact with Patrick and does the same. She's right, people are everywhere this afternoon.

"Am I missing something?" He asks with puzzlement.

"If you are then I am too." Michonne looks around, no one seems to be doing anything in particular but she doesn't remember seeing this many people around like this before. Rick falls into step with them. "Are we missing something? An event?" Michonne questions him jerking her chin at all the people around.

Rick frowns, trying to remember. "Yeah, Herschel was asked to be celebrant for the couple expecting over in A block." Rick finally remembers. He sees Carl and Michonne relax and he frowns. But he looks ahead to Daryl. "He looks okay." He says quietly to Michonne and she nods. "You go, I'll stay back with Carl." Rick sees Carl start and look at him but he doesn't say anything.

"Runt needs to come, he has to check whether Patrick won a bet or not." Michonne says without looking at either male. She meanders forward and Carl goes with her, Rick staying back. "You owe me runt." She says quietly when they're out of Rick's earshot.

"Thanks Mich." Carl simply answers. She shakes her head as she realises he's whole attention is on Patrick. Who is looking at Carl.

"Down boy." She says slapping a hand on Carl's shoulder before he can move forward he looks up at her but she is looking at Patrick, when he looks at her she shakes her head infinitesimally. He nods and takes a step back.

Looking at Carl he mouths the words 'I'm okay.' And then he turns and moves to the back of the truck to grab some of the haul they've got and start unpacking. Carl takes a deep breath and holds it. Michonne's fingers sink in harder before he shakes free.

"I got it Mich." Carl says as he moves forward and takes some of the haul Daryl and Patrick have ended up with. Michonne looks at him and knows he's under control. She steps up to Daryl and looks him over. Her hand flicks out quickly and smacks him in the back of the head once she sees for herself that he's okay as well.

"Ow, what the fuck?" He questions her rubbing the back of his head.

"You caused us unnecessary worry. You do it again and you'll be self-servicing for a long time to come Redneck, got that?" Daryl frowns at her as she stares him down.

"Oh for," Daryl breaks off stepping back as Michonne raises a hand again.

She stops and draws breath knowing full well she can't afford to lose her temper, it's not a pretty sight and one she only wishes on the Governor. So far Carl is the only one these days who is unafraid of her in full temper and who can talk her down.

"Daryl, you convinced me to stick around, I'm sticking around for you, Rick and the runt. Because you asked me to. That means it runs both ways. You can't go off saying you'll be two or three days and then be gone for five, I worried, Rick worried. And Carl worried about Patrick. We're…pack." Michonne decides after a few seconds of searching for a word.

"Pack?" Daryl questions her stepping forward.

"Fits better than family. We are, all of us animals these days." Michonne answers him.

##########

Daryl shrugs before he skates a hand down her arm, soothing her as if she were a skittish mare. Rick comes up as he's letting go and he steps between them and subtly bumps a hip into Daryl's.

"She's right, got to be better in future." He says no more though not wanting to start an argument out here in public.

"What's with all the people?" Daryl asks instead knowing they've said their piece and that he's gotten the message.

"Wedding ceremony from block A." Glenn says as he comes up. "Where's Carl? He wants a driving lesson and I have to burn some Walkers, it's as good a time as any." Glenn says. Michonne steps forward.

"I'll go get him, tell him to meet you at the jeep?" Glenn nods and Michonne walks off. Rick and Daryl frown after her. She's moving fast, not running or even jogging but she's still moving fast.

Then Rick feels Daryl skate a hand down his arm like he'd done Michonne's. "When do we head out for the horses?" He asks as he grabs up another haul. Rick copies him and they walk toward the prepping area.

"Few days? Give you and Patrick a break first I figure. Couple of decent night's sleep before we head back out." Rick walks alongside Daryl as they head in. They nearly bump into Carl coming out in a rush to meet Glenn.

"Sorry!" He exclaims on a rush of breath as he skips between Daryl and Rick and goes back on outside. Daryl frowns after him. He'd been flushed and his freckles were standing out on his face. And his eyes. He looks forward as Michonne and Patrick come toward them as well at a more sedate pace.

Patrick is flushed as well. And, his lips are swollen, same as Carl's Daryl realises. His eyes widen for a fraction of a second but before he can even begin to think of what to say Michonne is in front of him. She grabs his haul and speaks.

"Head on out and get the rest, I've got this. Patrick's gonna give Carl and Glenn a hand with the Walkers." She jerks her head at Patrick and he nods and takes off as well. Daryl stands and watches him go as his brain fries. Fuck.

"It's not your business Redneck, let it be." Michonne says to him firmly. Daryl looks at her.

"Fuck." He says simply as he drops his head. Shaking it he turns to do as Michonne says. She's right, it's not his business. Unless they make it his business.

##########

Patrick drops off his haul and sighs. It was good to be back. Not home, but back. He begins to head back out when he runs into Carl. They stop and stare at each other. Apart from a single overnight absence, this is the first time they've been apart since they started fooling around.

"Pat, I missed you." Carl speaks softly. Patrick smiles.

"Missed you too retard." Carl laughs at him now. And then heedless of people around them he dumps his haul and pushes Patrick across the hall into the alcove and against the wall where he latches his mouth on Patrick's and kisses him senseless.

Groaning into Carl's mouth Patrick flicks his tongue out at the same time he raises his hands and pushes them through Carl's messy and sweaty hair. They catch on the knots there as Carl hasn't bothered to brush it the past few days due to worrying about Patrick being gone.

They rub their dicks together and dry hump, their low moans pushed into each other's mouths. It's hard and fast and dirty and they both come quickly. Carl is still leaning on Patrick, their arms looped around each other when they hear someone walking toward them. They pull apart and stand upright still breathing hard.

Michonne looks them over and shakes her head. "Runt, Glenn is offering a driving lesson if you help with burning the Walkers." Carl nods and moves off, stopping to squeeze Patrick's arm he looks back.

"Shower tonight?" Patrick nods.

"Patrick should help you with the Walkers, I can help Daryl." Michonne says as she looks at them both. "Work might calm the two of you down enough to comport yourselves in company by then." She says with a straight face. Carl snorts and takes off at a trot. Patrick and Michonne follow at a slower pace.

"He missed you." Michonne says to him.

Jumping slightly Patrick glances at her. Michonne realises he's her height now, taller actually. Both he and Carl had grown these past months. "Uh, I missed him too." He says softly. Michonne smiles and Patrick's eyes widen as he looks at her. She wasn't teasing him. As if she reads his mind she speaks.

"Runt made me promise to stop hassling you, you treat him well in return though or you won't know the meaning of the word hassle. Got that?" Patrick blinks at Michonne.

"Yeah, I got that. I will, he's more likely to break my heart anyway." He says without inflection.

"Maybe not. I think we, neither of us give him enough credit there. The longer I see him with you, the more I think that." Michonne says no more as they come across Daryl and Rick. Patrick feels Daryl's eyes on him as he continues on but he ignores it, moving past and out to their parking area.

Glenn, shit. Carl and Glenn, double shit. It hadn't taken him long to process things and realise who Carl's crush had been. Glenn. He was a nice guy. He was just a nice straight guy.

Patrick wasn't. He wasn't sure what Carl was and he wasn't asking whether Carl had any inkling either. He'd tell Patrick when he'd worked it out. Or more likely he'd question Patrick to death as he worked it out. Patrick sighs as he gets outside and sees Carl laughing at Glenn. He was nearly the same height now. They both were.

He walks up to them resolutely ignoring his sticky underwear and trousers and thankful that he's wearing a long baggy shirt to cover any incriminating stains.

"Michonne said I should help too Glenn, that okay with you?" Patrick asks by way of a greeting.

"Sure Patrick, jump on in, but Carl is driving." Glenn says and then stops, looking at Patrick. "Do you know how to drive?" Patrick nods.

"Yeah, I never got to get a license but my dad liked cars and he taught me when I was real young on his parent's farm. I can drive an automatic, a stick, a tractor, a bike and a harvester if I need to." Patrick frowns as he thinks if he can drive anything else. "Oh and a bus." He finishes and Glenn's jaw is dropping.

"A bus?" He says.

"Yeah, my Grandpa drove the district school bus, so he kept it during the summer, why?"

"Uh, don't know but I never thought of you as country, guess I thought you were a city dude like me." Glenn says with a grin as he motions Carl into the driver's seat.

"Well I am, technically. It's just that my Dad wasn't and we spent every summer on his parent's farm and they were really into teaching stuff. Plus it was less of a pain to stay around and learn what they wanted to teach than to try to fit in with the local kids." He gets in the back seat and waits for Glenn to instruct Carl on the vehicles workings.

He notices Carl looking at him in the rearview mirror with a frown. He frowns back and Carl turns his attention to Glenn's instructions. Stupid, that was stupid. He knew Carl was going to ask him about all of that later on and like a freaking sissy he was going to tell him the truth.

And the truth sucked. In the old world Patrick had been a geek who'd spent summers on his Grandparents farm staying close by so he wasn't bullied. His grandparents let him, they taught him what they knew of machines and crops and farming and animals. That was why Daryl had no issue with him, he already had knowledge.

Patrick thinks how surprised Daryl had been when he'd realised what he already knew. When he'd asked why he hadn't told anyone, Patrick had said no one had asked him because he was a kid. Daryl had snorted and said that wasn't a mistake he'd make again. He'd actually muttered something about he and Carl being a perfect match which Patrick didn't get at first until he'd realised he was talking about their knowledge. Patrick struggled with guns, Carl didn't but Carl struggled with machines and stuff and Daryl now knew Patrick didn't.

Truth was back in the old world a guy like Carl wouldn't have given him the time of day because he was a geek, a geeky geek. Computers, online shit, role-playing games, math, programming, hacking. You name it and Patrick excelled at it.

He didn't have a lot of trouble at his school, it was academic based so most of the kids were like him. He was actually kind of regular at his school. But at the farm, well that was a different matter. His pale skin, glasses and polo shirts without band or TV show's plastered across them gave him away, not to mention that his clothes weren't ripped or torn or dirty.

So he'd been a neat kid, sue him. Shaking his head he lets he it roll with the vehicle as it stops and starts, jerking him back to the here and now. He puts up with it. But Glenn is a shitty teacher. For about fifteen minutes according to the clock on the dash his head jerks back and forth until Patrick thinks its about to fall off. Scowling, he finally can't help himself anymore.

"Dude, what are we in Australia with all the freaking kangaroo hopping?" He finally breaks into Carl and Glenn's discussions. "Glenn, you're a shit teacher dude, do you mind if I take over?" Patrick asks even as he stands and jumps out of the jeep, he opens Glenn's door not giving him a chance to refuse. His head is splitting so much he doesn't care if he's offended Glenn at all right now.

Glenn shakes his head though and gets out and climbs into the back seat. Patrick gets in the front. He looks at Carl and takes a deep breath. "Okay, you know how you groom Michonne's mare dude?" He asks Carl. Carl nods. "Good, smooth and slow, even yeah?" Carl nods again. "Okay then, when you put your foot on the clutch you let it out the same way. When you change gears, you do it the same way. It's all about rhythm, seamless like yeah?" He questions.

Carl is staring at him with his mouth agape, cheeks flushed. Shit. "Carl!" Patrick says sharply even as his own dick twitches in response to Carl's flushed face.

"Yeah, sorry Pat. Smooth. Okay. I can do this." He pushes the clutch in with his other foot on the brake, then he puts his hand on the gearshift and his other hand turns the key again. Patrick moves his left hand over Carl's right one on the gearshift.

"Let me do the gears for now, focus on your feet and the steering yeah?" Patrick says. Carl nods and moves his hand out from under Patrick's on the stick. Patrick shifts into first gear. He looks down to see how many gears the jeep has. "We wouldn't get beyond about third doing this would we?" he asks Glenn.

Glenn nods mutely as he watches Carl move off slowly and smoothly as Patrick had directed. "Clutch." Patrick says as the engine gets to the top of its revs in first gear. Carl pushes the clutch in and Patrick changes to second. "Smooth now, let it out." Carl pulls his foot off the clutch obeying Patrick to the letter. The jeep moves into second gear with no hops this time. Patrick hears Glenn breathe a sigh of relief in the back seat.

"Good, really good retard." Carl snorts a laugh though he doesn't look at him, concentrating instead on moving over the terrain as they turn outside the gates to grab the Walkers they've put down so far today.

"That's kind of mean isn't it?" Glenn says from the back seat. Patrick opens his mouth having forgotten Glenn was there. But Carl beats him to it.

"No, it's a nickname, like Daryl calls you Chinaman." Glenn frowns but doesn't say anything more.

Patrick ignores Glenn as they come up on the first Walker. He gets Carl to brake smoothly and then he jumps out with Glenn to grab the Walker. They repeat the process only having to kill one other who gets too interested. Then they're turning back and driving to where they have the burning pit for the Walkers.

While he and Glenn toss them in and set them on fire, Patrick has Carl sit in the jeep and practice changing gears without the engine on. It's not something that should be done but Carl needed to learn and learn fast preferably.

The sun is setting when they return. Patrick gets out of the jeep and stretches. It has been a long freaking day. And Carl had managed the return trip without any trouble. Next time he should be okay to start changing the gears himself too.

"Dinner first Pat?" Carl questions him as Glenn moves on inside.

"Yeah dude, sounds good, feel like I'm about to fall asleep just standing here." They move inside together, happy to be back in each other's space. Their physical rhythm is back now as well.

"Next time you go, I want to go too. It felt too weird not being with you." Carl says quietly. Patrick stops and stares at him. "Will you be my boyfriend Pat?" Carl asks quietly as they start to walk inside again.

Patrick looks over to see Carl watching him in return. Steady and even, no anticipation, no fear. Just a question. And yet Patrick knows by the complete stillness, the lack of emotion that his answer means a lot to Carl.

"Yeah dude. Between us for now yeah?" He says just as calmly and quietly in return.

He is gifted by that blinding smile Carl reserves for very few people these days. And the ducking of his head so he looks over at Patrick through his lashes.

"Its no one else's business Pat, no one's at all, not now, not ever." The sudden vehemence in Carl's tone startles Patrick but before he can comment they're in the communal kitchen. They grab dinner and Patrick sees the girl on duty serve Carl and try to flirt. He smirks to himself when he sees Carl return her smile while remaining totally oblivious to her flirting.

Thank fuck. Which reminded him. "Dude, you owe me two days chores, I say fuck now without hesitation, Daryl taught me." Carl's smile turns from the girl to Patrick.

"I figured I'd lose, just say when. Let's sit with Dad and Mich and Daryl." Carl smiles and waits for Patrick to be served. The girl pays him little attention, still trying to engage Carl who is just not aware of her. Patrick feels like telling her to give it up, that Carl is taken, but he can't and he won't. Like Carl said, what they are is no one's business but theirs.

As they sit down Rick stops and looks at Patrick. "So Patrick, it seems you can drive, not only can you drive you're an excellent teacher." Patrick frowns and Rick elaborates. "Glenn was just here, he said that you have Carl driving already without any real issue."

Patrick shrugs. "He's like a sponge you know, kind of just soaked everything up. Wish I was like that with guns." He answers honestly. Carl had been like a sponge, it was easy because he could give Carl a visual.

Rick nods as does Daryl who is looking at him through narrowed eyes. "I'm thinking you should be given new chores, teaching the young ones some practical stuff, and a couple of the ladies can't drive, they should all be able to drive a stick at least. I'm gonna suggest to the Council you be put in charge of driving lessons and maybe basic mechanics since I know you know that too." He smiles and Patrick gulps and nods.

"Uh, sure. I mean I don't have a problem with that."

"Sounds good actually, I can help Rick and Carl can be Patrick's assistant or whatever once he's learned what Patrick thinks he needs to know. And Carl can teach you guns as well, it's a skill you should have Patrick, especially being outside the walls so much. It'll keep you safer." Michonne says to them all.

She continues on before Daryl can say anything else. "Can we spare gas to take a second vehicle for the horses? If so Carl and Patrick can drive it, it'd be good practice for Carl especially." Rick nods and Daryl lowers his head for a minute before he looks up on a breath and nods.

"Yeah, we can and that's a good idea, can you drive a vehicle with a trailer though Patrick?" He asks Patrick. Patrick looks at him knowing he's realised something about he and Carl, he didn't know what exactly but something.

"Yeah, yeah I can." Daryl nods and goes on to say they'll prep the vehicles tomorrow. Michonne frowns when she's put in charge of food to take but makes no comment.

Patrick eats his dinner letting the conversation roll around him. He was being accepted as part of the group. Daryl was getting him to do more stuff than hunt with him and do his grunt work. He was being accepted. Patrick feels tears prick the back of his eyelids. He finally, for the first time since he'd lost his family felt like he might have a chance at a new home here.

With Carl, through Carl, even though it had been Glenn and Maggie and Sasha that had found him. With Carl and through Carl, Patrick finally felt like he was home again. He clears his throat softly not drawing attention to himself.

He should have known better though. Feeling Carl's leg rub against his slightly before Carl shifted and unobtrusively just rested his leg there so it looked like they were just touching accidentally Patrick knew though he was comforting him, he'd realised he was upset about something. Clearing his throat again he stands up, placing a hand on Carl's shoulder he grabs his plate as well as his own and taking Rick, Daryl and Michonne's too he drops them off at the dishwasher.

The girls on duty there are talking about Carl. They ignore him as though he doesn't exist. Shaking his head Patrick goes back to the seat and sits down letting Carl once again rest his leg on his. It comforts him, the small touch from his boyfriend.

His boyfriend. He liked that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just reiterating chapter one. Explicit slashy smut is a feature; yes in this chapter.

Carl listens to his parents talk about the trip and decide on the vehicles and plan the roads they'll take. It was how he was beginning to think of Mich and Daryl now, parents like his father. He knew they'd never replace his mother and he also knew his mother would be happy that his Dad had found someone else, elses? To share his life with.

Knowing it wasn't traditional wasn't bothering Carl. What had bothered him was not seeing his father happy.

They don't do too much tonight though, their conversation changes soon after Patrick clears their dishes. Carl sits quietly with Patrick just listening. Then he sees Patrick yawn out of the corner of his eyes. Standing up Carl speaks to his father. "Gonna grab a shower Dad, see you all in the morning. Coming Pat? You need one too."

Patrick stands with a nod. "Yeah, good idea. I'll put dirt and stuff all over the sheets otherwise, night everyone." He gives a blanket goodnight. Carl leans over and kisses Michonne on the cheek and she grins at Patrick as he does so. Patrick flushes when she crooks her finger at him. Leaning down he's surprised when she busses his cheek.

"Night boys, don't do anything I wouldn't do now." She grins wickedly as Daryl chokes on the water he was drinking and Rick just laughs.

"Well that leaves a lot of options now doesn't it Pat?" Carl questions as Patrick just gapes at him.

Laughing Carl drags him away before the flush Patrick can feel makes itself known to Daryl and Rick.

Carl is still laughing as he stops in his cell for his pyjamas and a towel. Then they move across to D block and Patrick's cell. As they get there he frowns. "Pat, do you want to move into my cell block?"

Patrick looks at Carl. "Would I be allowed?" Carl frowns.

"Let me run it by Dad, I don't think it'll be a problem, especially since you're part of our family now, but I'll check. The women can be weird about some stuff." Carl and Patrick walk to the showers. It's a busy time of night, they won't be alone. "But if you can, do you want to? You'd get your own room."

Patrick nods. "I'd love to, be nice to not be in different cell blocks you know?" Carl nods.

"I'd like being closer to you too." Patrick hauls Carl up close against him suddenly and lays a kiss on him. Carl responds as he always does. He'd missed Pat, a lot.

They break away as they hear footsteps and continue to the showers. As they get there, they go in and take adjoining cubicles. Before they switch the water on Patrick leans across to Carl. "Wash that arse good boy, it's mine tonight." He grins salaciously as Carl's face turns a dull red and his freckles stand out in bold relief.

"Yeah?" Carl finally says to him as his fingers strangle his cake of soap.

Grinning Patrick just nods. "Yeah." He ducks his head under the shower rinsing his hair and looks over to see Carl doing the same. He watches Carl wash his body though not too closely. Wouldn't do to get a hard on around other's in the shower. But he can tell Carl does pay attention to washing his butt thoroughly, as he does himself. He's not gonna expect Carl to reciprocate, but he's sure as hell going to be ready if he does.

They towel off and dress in their pyjamas, or the equivalent of and both put their boots back on. As they walk back toward their cells Carl suddenly pulls the same move Patrick did some months ago and shoves him into an unused room. This one a storage room. It was full of, mattresses of all things. Patrick watches Carl push in the lock and then drop a mattress across the door and then he moves to some other mattresses and leaning across them he produces a lantern which he switches on as he then switches off the torch he'd flicked on when he'd shut the door.

"Premeditated dude, I'm impressed." Patrick smiles as Carl flushes.

"I knew you'd win the bet, I put this here the day you left." He answers looking at Patrick.

"You made that bet deliberately didn't you?" Patrick asks knowing already Carl's answer is yes. Carl answers with a nod. Then he places his dirty clothes on another mattress along with his towel and steps forward relieving Patrick of his bundle as well, placing it on top of his own clothing.

Stepping out of his boots Carl stands and looks at Patrick, waiting for him to proceed. Shaking his head Patrick steps out of his own boots and then steps into Carl's welcoming arms. Fisting his hands in Carl's now clean and soaking wet hair he pulls on it. Carl's head arches back exposing his neck and his now fully formed Adam's apple.

"Fuck, I wish I could suck your neck dude, it is so fucking sexy." Patrick says. He's deliberately using the word fuck, to show Carl he can use it. And because right here and now with Carl it's appropriate.

Patrick knew that his hesitation over saying it was the last vestige of his childhood disappearing, never to return. Now, he could say it and he would say it. He was an adult in this new world now, where he wouldn't normally have been an adult really for another several years.

Carl moans, "I want you to Pat, I want people to see it and know you put it there." Patrick closes his eyes as his dick jumps and rubs against Carl's own erection. They rub together a few times before Patrick finally slants his mouth over Carl's and kisses him again.

He takes Carl's moan into his own mouth this time and returns it as their tongues duel lazily with each other. Patrick tastes the toothpaste they'd shared mingling between them and something beneath that is simply Carl in all his beauty. His hands move from Carl's hair down his body until he's holding a butt cheek in each hand pulling Carl's hard on up against his own.

He jerks when he feels Carl's own hands pushing his sweatpants down over his hips and backside. Carl pushes on his hips insistently so he can then take them down over his hard on as well. At the same time he pushes his own pyjama bottoms off so they're grinding their naked dicks on each other.

Palming Carl's pectoral muscles Patrick feels Carl push into him. It had been a surprise to them both, Carl's sensitive nipples. Smiling against Carl's lips Patrick's fingers stroke and pinch them lightly. "Pat!" Carl gasps as he does so.

Patrick smiles at the sounds coming out of Carl's mouth. He loves being the cause of those sounds of Carl's. They're downright sexy and make his dick jump even more against Carl's than it is now. "You like that dude? Feels like you do, the way they're so hard, I think you like it."

He plays with Carl's nipples now, looking into Carl's blind eyes with his dilated pupils staring back. "Fuck, dude you are so fucking sexy." With being able to say fuck now Patrick's tongue has loosened, he's not afraid to tell Carl what he thinks of him, or maybe it's that he's now officially Carl's boyfriend. Whatever it is he can tell Carl likes his words by the way his dick jerks against him. Smiling Patrick leans down and takes one hot nipple in his mouth sucking on it strongly.

And Carl comes.

##########

Carl's head falls back as he comes from Patrick sucking on his nipple. He hadn't even touched his dick yet and he'd already come. "Shit, sorry Pat." He says breathlessly as his orgasm recedes.

Laughing lightly Patrick kisses him before breaking away, "Nothing to be sorry for retard, nothing at all, probably better this way, you won't come so quick when I put my mouth on your hole now." Carl shakes his head.

"I doubt that, something tells me that won't stop me, I mean you make me come by kissing me Pat, you could probably make me come just by talking to me, or looking at me." Carl says baldly. He sees the pleased look in Patrick's eyes and smiles at him in return. Then he steps back again. "Where do you want me?" He asks quietly.

He watches Patrick look around and then shove a couple of stacked mattresses flat on the floor and jerk his head at them. "Hands and needs Carl." Nodding Carl swallows and gets down on the mattress on his hands and knees. He looks back at Patrick from over his shoulder. Patrick is just staring at his backside. Carl can tell his eyes have dilated now as well.

"Is this okay Pat? Should I spread my legs wider for you?" Carl wants this to be perfect for Patrick. He sees Patrick swallow at his words as he looks back into Carl's eyes. Then he surprises Carl by kneeling beside him.

"Were you serious tonight dude about us being boyfriends?" Carl kneels up and looks at Patrick.

"Yes Pat I was, why?" Patrick frowns.

"Just us, boyfriends yeah? No one else, no girls or anything, no other guys?" He sounds uncertain and Carl leans forward sliding his arms around Patrick's lean waist, he feels the growing muscles under his skin. Patrick was developing like he was, though he was more defined being a little older.

Laying his head on Patrick's shoulder Carl breathes him in. Then he pulls back. "Just us, no one else, I don't want anyone but you Pat, no other dudes, no girls. Just you. Don't you see? It's always been you. I think it'll always be you." Stretching up Carl kisses Patrick, soft and slow, just a sliding of lips across Patrick's a confirmation of feelings, a commitment despite their age.

Patrick leans on Carl, pushing him back gently on the mattress. As Carl allows himself to be pushed back he pulls on Patrick, bringing him down as well until they're lying prone with Patrick on top of Carl. Carl instinctively spreads his legs and they both groan as their dicks rub against each other. Patrick thrusts a few times and Carl reciprocates, moving up. He feels his eyes flutter even as he sees Patrick's do the same.

Leaning down Patrick sucks lightly on Carl's throat, moving on before he sucks too hard and leaves a bruise. He stops at Carl's nipples again and makes Carl moan more with his teasing and licking of them. And then he moves south, slowly he licks and sucks down Carl's stomach until he's at Carl's navel.

Here Patrick can't help himself. He slides his tongue over Carl's hip and then looking up to see Carl watching him with his pupils a pure ebony in the lantern light Patrick smiles and then opens his mouth on Carl's bony hip and sucks strongly. Carl's back arches off the bed and he comes again all over Patrick's hand.

A muffled laugh comes from Patrick as he feels Carl's orgasm shoot through him.

Carl moans even more as he comes, he feels Patrick's hand on him and his mouth sucking on his hip. And then he feels cool air where Patrick's mouth had been. He looks down as Patrick brushes a thumb against the forming bruise. "That's what you want to do to my neck?" He asks Patrick who looks up with a predatory gaze as he nods.

"Yeah dude, I want people to see you're taken, maybe one day I can to that. But for now? I can look at you and know that underneath your cargos, you have my mark." Carl feels his erection grow for the third time at Patrick's words. They spoke to him on his most basic level. He was Patrick's. Just as he wanted. And Patrick was his.

And then Patrick is gently turning him over on his stomach, his hands are underneath, pulling him up on his knees and he is spreading Carl's legs so he is exposed and vulnerable. Carl feels Patrick's hands on his stomach, moving through the come he has left there twice already tonight. He hears Patrick moan and looks back over his shoulder to see Patrick licking his come off his fingers.

"God, Pat." Is all Carl can say as his third erection firms just has hard as his other two. Patrick just grins at him however.

"Taste good dude." Is all he answers as he looks at Carl. And then Carl sees him lean down until he can't see him anymore. But he can feel him, his hands on his backside. And his breath, slow and steady. Carl closes his eyes as he feels Patrick's fingers run lightly over his backside.

Slowly they glide over his flesh, up his back and down again, over his hips, down the back of his thighs. So slow they're driving Carl crazy. And he can feel Patrick's breath on his backside, all the while. And then Carl jerks as he feels Patrick place a wet, open-mouthed kiss on his left cheek and then his right.

Then Patrick's hands simply palm his backside and push his buttocks apart even more. Carl closes his eyes in embarrassment now. But they pop open at Patrick's words. "You're so sexy dude, so sexy, I wish you could see yourself." Before Carl can answer Patrick licks him,

From his perineum up to his hole and back again before he settles at Carl's puckered entrance where he circles his tongue around Carl's hole over and over. Carl feels like his whole body is on fire. Patrick's tongue is hot and wet on his skin. His fingers dig into the mattress trying to find purchase as his knees do.

Shoving with his arms Patrick spreads Carl's thighs even further and Carl shamelessly moans and without even thinking he puts his hands back holding his butt cheeks and spreading himself wide open for Patrick's questing tongue. He hears Patrick moan as he does this but can tell it's a moan of pleasure.

Suddenly he feels pressure on his hole, blunter than Patrick's tongue, harsher. He flinches but pushes back still aroused. He feels Patrick's finger slide into him slowly. Patrick's tongue keeps licking and sucking around it, Carl presses his forehead into the mattress as he whines Patrick's name along with moans and sounds that he doesn't recognise as coming from his own mouth. He feels his toes curling in pleasure and his arches cramp along with his calves and thigh muscles.

Every muscle on his body is jumping in pleasure, cramping, screaming for relief. And then the finger inside him touches something and Carl's shoulders jerk, his hands lose purchase on his own cheeks before he scrabbles them back and spreads himself wide again.

As Patrick's damnable finger continues to prod that spot in Carl he see's stars and keens in pleasure. And then just when Carl thinks he cannot feel anymore pleasure Patrick's other hand takes his dick in hand and yanks on it once.

Carl shoots again, everywhere, his come ejects from him with the force of a bullet, he feels it hit his chin as he feels his backside spasm around Patrick's finger and tongue. His tongue. Pat was licking him with his tongue. As Patrick pulls his finger back, keeping his other hand on Carl's cock Carl pushes back with a protesting sound and finds Patrick's whole mouth buried between his cheeks. Patrick accepts the invitation and his hands spread over Carl's as his mouth closes over Carl's hole, he licks it again repeatedly, and then his tongue stabs inside, inside Carl.

Moaning again Carl feels his dick start to rise for the fourth time. He takes one of his hands away from his butt and grabs his dick. "Pat," He moans Patrick's name over and over, Patrick is all he can think of, all he can visualize.

Jerking his cock off again Carl feel's its soreness, its sensitivity and he ignores it, too wanton for the arousal Patrick has caused in him yet again. He is a slave to Patrick's tongue. Patrick pulls his tongue out and starts to flick it over Carl's hole, back and forth. Over and over. And one of his hands takes Carl's balls in hand and he cups them gently, holding them and fondling them.

And for the fourth time that night Carl orgasms. This one is the tail end, he can tell he's exhausted his dick, but it is by far the most intense. He feels everything. Patrick's tongue, each individual finger holding his cheeks, the roughening palm of Patrick's hand cupping his balls, his own calloused hand on his dick, the slipperiness of it from all the previous times he's come, his other hand still holding a butt cheek, his come dripping off his face and the older come drying on his stomach.

Everything is felt and all the more intense for it. Patrick doesn't stop until Carl flinches a little. Then he pulls back and kisses Carl's butt cheek before he opens his mouth and sucks on it bruising Carl again. Carl slowly lets himself go and drops his other hand from his dick. He feels his back and shoulder muscles still trembling from the unaccustomed position.

Then before he can move Patrick's hands are around his waist raising him up on his knees and holding him so he leans back on Patrick. Patrick kisses a shoulder softly and then pulls Carl's unresisting body back until Carl is lying in a reclining position with Patrick holding him protectively.

Carl feels emotionally drained, he turns in Patrick's arms, burying his head between Patrick's neck and shoulder, his tears fall silently. Patrick simply strokes his hand up and down Carl's back letting him cry.

##########

Fuck. Patrick thought. That had been intense. It had been way intense. More than when he'd been rimmed himself. It was Carl he knew. Carl made it better. He had feelings for Carl. And that made it intense. And better. So much better. Patrick felt tears prick his own eyes and let them slide down the side of his face into his hair even as he felt Carl relax against him in sleep. He should wake him to go back to his own cell he knew but he was selfish, he wanted this time with him. He needed this time with him.

And so closing his own eyes Patrick also slept. Despite his own raging erection, despite the stickiness of Carl rubbing against him, the heavy smell of their small room, he slept.

He wakes sometime later in darkness wondering why. He is sleepy, wrung out and tired from his trip with Daryl. Patrick barely feels the soft pushes against his body rolling him on his side and pushing a leg up. He obeys them not realising that he's awake and not dreaming.

And then he feels the faintest of breaths around his backside. And then rough palms are pushing him apart. He comes fully awake with a shudder of pleasure as Carl's tongue swipes his hole now. He remembers rimming Carl and that Carl had come four times by the time he'd finished. He remembers Carl crying and crying himself and then Carl falling asleep. He must have fallen asleep himself.

Because there is no other way he'd be on his side with Carl's mouth on his arse. Oh fuck. "Oh fuck." Patrick says breathlessly as Carl's tongue stabs at his hole before it slides away. He feels a soft laugh ghost over his sensitive flesh. "You shit." He says to Carl.

Carl pulls away. "Not so far Pat, so far I'm only tasting you, no poop." Patrick sighs. Shit. Carl was getting a real smart mouth on him, quick to respond. He's exceeded his master in that respect. "On your knees for me Pat, I want to do this like you did me. Patrick rolls for Carl onto his knees and pushes back.

He can feel the faintest of stubble on Carl's face, he was only just now growing facial hair though his pubic hair had nearly fully grown in. From the look of his chest he wasn't going to get a lot of hair there like Patrick was growing. But he was growing a happy trail. Patrick thought it was the sexiest one he'd ever seen. And from his internet searching days he'd seen heaps.

And then he can't think because this wet thing drags over his hole, around it and stabs into it before licking away. "Oh God, Carl." He uses Carl's name as he rarely does. And Carl laughs quietly against his cheek where he stops and nips at Patrick making him jump. "Oh, Dammit." He says to Carl trying to reach back and swat at him. Carl just laughs again and before Patrick knows where he is Carl has latched onto his cheek and began to suck.

Bruising him, just like he'd bruised Carl. "Oh God," Patrick says again as he feels Carl eventually pull off and then just rasp his tongue over the bruise repeatedly. "More." He says even as he mimics Carl's movement from earlier and spreads his own cheeks for Carl's mouth.

"Oh Pat, you're so pretty." Just as Patrick wonders how the hell Carl can tell he realises Carl had put the flashlight on and was shining it on his, he swallows. He was shining it on his backside. "Oh God." He says again. He doesn't have words.

"Can I put a finger in you too?" Carl asks him softly. Patrick feels his hole clench in anticipation and the gasp he hears from Carl tells him he's seen it too.

"Yeah." Patrick's voice cracks on the word and he clears his throat. "Yes please Carl." He answers clearly. Carl immediately pushes a finger against Patrick's hole and he winces. "Wait." He clears his throat again and removes his hands kneeling up. Then he turns around and sits, lying down and resting up on his elbows. Carl is sitting down the other end of the mattress. "Want to put the lantern on again?" Patrick questions Carl. He sees Carl nod and the torch goes out and moments later the lantern is on.

They both blink briefly. "You know how Michonne offered to get supplies a while back dude?" Carl nods. "Cool, did she get anything and did you bring it tonight?" Carl nods and then shakes his head.

"She did, I've got three tubes of stuff, but it's in my room." He stops and looks at Patrick, "Shit, sorry Pat."

Patrick shakes his head. "It's fine dude. I could get in you earlier because I used spit, you can do the same, we should save the slick until we really need it if we can."

"Really need it?" Carl frowns and Patrick feels a feral smile cross his face. Carl frowns more.

"For when I fuck you dude." Carl's frown disappears into a grin with the same ferality that rivals Patrick's. He knows it.

"Or until I fuck you." Carl says softly. Then he sucks two fingers into his own mouth and Patrick can see his tongue working them, getting them good and wet.

"Oh God." He says again but he bends his knees and lifts and spreads them, waiting for Carl to lean down and have at him again.

Which he does, tongue sliding over his hole and up his perineum and then lapping at his balls. "Oh shit, Carl!" Patrick grabs some mattresses behind him and pulls them forward to prop himself up. Then he moves his arms down and grabs his knees pulling them to his chest so he is spread wide open for Carl's mouth and tongue and fingers that are even know pushing into him.

"Is this okay Pat? I'm not hurting you?" Carl asks him quietly as he slowly pushes his two fingers into Patrick's body.

"It's fine dude, just go slow, it's been awhile yeah? And anytime you want to have at my balls, you feel free now you hear?" He questions breathlessly watching as Carl looks at him from under his lashes. He shakes his head trying to clear it knowing it's a useless effort when Carl looks at him like that. Instead Patrick just lies back on the mattresses and watches Carl take him apart.

"God you're so pretty Pat." Carl says to Patrick making him flush, he can feel the heat crawling all over his face and chest, see it spreading down his body to his hard dick where even it flushes red. Carl smiles as he watches the flush, following it with his eyes.

"Dudes are not pretty dude. You call me that again and I'll spank your arse instead of rimming it next time." He threatens. He is unsurprised to see Carl's cock jerk at the threat. "Kinky bastard, I fucking knew it." He says aloud and laughs as he hears Carl laugh. Then his laugh turns into a moan as Carl's fingers brush against his prostate. "Gonna come from that if you don't watch it." Patrick warns Carl who cocks an eyebrow at him.

"You can do that?" He asks with amazement. Patrick nods feeling his body flush again. "Yeah, but another time, you gotta be quick if you're gonna make me come, I don't know how long we've been gone, your dad…"

Carl interrupts him. "Is with Mich and Daryl, first night back they're only looking at each other and Jude if she wakes up." He obeys Patrick though and leans down. He begins to kiss and lick Patrick's balls and Patrick feels them draw up immediately. He'd not come before and he was way ready now.

And then Carl licks and sucks at his perineum, nipping at it lightly as well as he experimented with what got Patrick off. Patrick moaned as he felt Carl's teeth sink into him lightly. He was giving away all his secrets tonight. Carl's fingers moved gently in and out of him, not doing more than giving a light brush against his prostate every now and then thankfully. Patrick orgasming from his prostate was not quiet in any way.

And then Carl looks up at Patrick. Hovers there for a few moments. Patrick knows he's going to ask him something and that he's going to say yes. "What?" He asks.

"Can I suck your dick Pat? I've wanted to for the longest time. Can I?" Patrick closes his eyes. He lets go of his legs and stretches them out. The action causes Carl's fingers to withdraw from his backside.

"You sure? It's not too much for you? You're definitely ready Carl?" He asks using Carl's name again.

"I'm sure, I've been thinking about it, I mean I thought about it while you were away. I'm ready for this. But only if you are too?" He questions Patrick in return. Patrick frowns.

He suddenly realises he's not ready for Carl to suck him. Or at least not tonight. He's too wrung out, too tired and they don't have the time really.

Shaking his head he sits up and draws Carl over him, straddling him and sitting down on his dick. Reaching his hands up, he cups Carl's face and brings him in for a kiss. It's slow and languid and erotic as all get out.

Pulling back he winds his hands through Carl's now dry hair. "Another time yeah? I want to be able to do you at the same time. And," Patrick pauses as he looks up at Carl's eyes. They're ebony in the dim light. "I want it to be daylight and outside, it's kind of a fantasy." He admits.

Carl's eyes flash and the smile that crosses his face is as sexy as Patrick has ever seen on him. "I like that idea Pat. I want our first time inside each other to be outside during the day too." Carl admits. Patrick feels his cock jerk in happiness at that thought. And that Carl isn't upset about not going down on him tonight.

"Might be awhile before we can do either of those things though, you gonna be okay with that Carl?" He's used Carl's name more times tonight than ever before he thinks. Probably because he feels like Carl is really a part of his life now. He's family, Patrick's significant other even if other's don't know that. He figures they will one day when both he and Carl are ready to go public. Which will not be for a while yet.

"I'm okay with that Pat, we've got other stuff we can do. But how do you want to come now?" Carl asks as he moves his hips without realising what he's doing.

Patrick looks up at him. God, he was so freaking sexy. All long messy hair, black eyes, flushed face and freckles and swollen lips. He nearly made Patrick come just looking at him. And his bruise on his hip. Patrick brushes a thumb over it before he looks back up at Carl.

"Kneel up for a second." Carl knees up and Patrick grabs his own dick and pushes it flat on his body. "Kneel down and…oh yeah, that's it." He says as Carl sits on him and then moves his hips until Patrick's dick is in the grove of his own buttocks. They looks down and see Patrick's dick sticking out from under Carl's own drawn up balls.

And they both moan. Patrick grins as he begins to thrust up a little, moving up and down. Carl catches on, leaning back, arching himself like he was offering himself to Patrick and making pre-come drip from Patrick's cock down on his stomach he begins to move back and forth himself.

Instinctively knowing to move in counterpoint to Patrick. They're managing to simulate sex without having sex. Patrick brings his hand up and spits on it and then moves it back to Carl's dick. He takes it in hand and jerks him gently, being mindful of the four orgasms Carl has already had tonight.

He watches as Carl opens his eyes and looks down at him and then making sure Patrick is watching he lifts his own hands and pinches his nipples. "Dude." Patrick says. His free hand moves to his own nipples and does the same thing. He's getting off just watching Carl.

"Sexy Pat, pretty Pat." Carl says looking down at him as he moves his backside along Patrick's dick.

Patrick feels his balls draw up. "Touch my hole Carl, please." He pleads. Carl immediately sucks his fingers into his mouth, moaning at the taste of Patrick from when they'd been inside him before and he then slows his hip movements so he can push his fingers inside Patrick's hole.

He doesn't know what to do movement-wise so he just leaves them there and slides them around each other. It's enough for Patrick though.

Patrick feels his balls tighten even more and suddenly he feels fingers on his dick, sliding over it, slippery with pre-come. Carl is fingering his dick as he slides it forward and it appears under Carl's balls.

"Fuck!" He exclaims as he suddenly orgasms, his come shooting out of his dick and up his chest in a torrent. He'd not come since before he'd left on his trip until he'd rubbed off on Carl earlier tonight.

Carl moans as he watches him and comes again himself. Softly and not very much but he still comes. Patrick laughs as does Carl. And then when Patrick's hole has stopped spasming he pulls out his fingers and sucks on them again.

"Dude." Patrick says breathlessly as he watches Carl do that. His cock jerks and Carl pushes down on him, his buttocks holding him prisoner even as his other hand pulls on his head again. Patrick realises Carl's going to make him come again. He lies still though he badly wants to move.

Giving Carl complete control over his dick he watches as Carl finishes sucking on his fingers and then slides them through the come on Patrick's stomach and begins to suck that as well. He moans when he sees Patrick watching him. Patrick's hands reach for Carl's nipples and he rolls them and plays with them.

Carl moans now and this time when he swipes his fingers through Patrick's come he moves them to Patrick's mouth letting him suck himself off. He moans as he watches Patrick suck off his own come. "You're so sexy Pat." His eyes flash for a second and Patrick's heart jerks. "And you're mine, Pat, only mine." Patrick blinks at the cold tone. It was not a child speaking to him, or even a teenager. It was an adult talking to him now.

And so the adult in Patrick responded. "For as long as you want me. But the same goes." He says firmly, letting Carl know that what they'd discussed before still stood, they didn't mess with others.

At all. Ever.

Those adult eyes look at him and then the adult voice speaks. "I want forever."

And then Carl shakes his head and leans down, kissing Patrick. Patrick kisses him back as he comes again, not as strong but strong enough he can feel his come landing high on his chest. Carl's fingers are already drawing patterns in it.

Pulling away Carl looks at them both. "Good thing I laid in other supplies too." And then he leans down and proceeds to clean Patrick of his come, licking and sucking it all away even as Patrick moans and moves under him again. Just as he finishes Carl takes his dick in his hand and jerks him a few times. Before Patrick can protest he feels his balls draw up and he comes again.

"Shit Carl!" He says as Carl just licks him clean again. He looks up with a smile and a shrug.

"You were hard again Pat, I can't leave you like that now can I?" Patrick narrows his eyes at him. Before he can say anything though Carl rises and moves back to the other mattresses. Leaning down behind them he grabs a water bottle and a cloth. He wets the cloth and scrubs himself down and then kneels by Patrick again and does the same to him. When they're clean he pulls Patrick to his feet and hands him his sweatpants. They dress silently.

Something has passed between them. Something momentous and they both realise it. They store the leftover supplies and put the mattresses back up and then listening they switch off the lantern and leave the room closing the door behind them.

They walk back to their rooms. As they get to D block where Patrick is, Carl puts a hand on his arm. "I'll ask Dad about you moving to our block Pat." Patrick merely nods and they say goodnight.

He's in his room and settling down before he allows the emotion sitting on his chest out. Rolling in a ball he faces the wall. How could he be so stupid?

##########

Carl meanders back to his own room. He's feeling light and happy. Pat made him happy. Truly happy. He didn't think he'd been this happy since before the infection had hit.

God, he wanted to suck Pat, but he wanted to do it how Pat wanted to, outside during the day in the sunlight somehow. That sounded perfect. Just like how he wanted them to have sex together the first time as well.

Getting into bed Carl frowned as he thought of how Pat had been when they'd said goodnight. He knew why of course. But he also knew that it was a good thing and he'd convince Pat of that soon enough. He'd force it into his thick skull like he forced him to say fuck if he had to.

After all Mich said she'd never come across anyone for getting their way like him and considering her that was saying something Carl knew. First thing was to get Patrick into his cell block, then…

Patrick wouldn't know what had hit him.

Carl smiles as he drifts off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Special thanks to Elle Gardner for confirming that the US does call a walkie-talkie a walkie-talkie and for laughing at the beginning of this chapter and assuring me it was funny. I hope you guys think so too (at least in the beginning anyway).

"My parents wouldn't have stood for me being like those kids Pat. Mum was...she was," Carl pauses as he thinks of how to best describe his mother. "She wasn't perfect. And she could throw a tantrum like you wouldn't believe, but she didn't believe in things like that. At school especially and stuff you know?" Patrick nods mutely. Carl sighs frustrated knowing Pat wasn't listening.

Patrick had answered his questions about how he knew so much about driving things and engines and crops and stuff. Carl wanted to beat the living crap out of all the kids who'd bullied him each summer.

He stares out at the road in front of him and the vehicle moving ahead of theirs. He was driving now, Patrick riding shotgun again. And he'd been managing the gears so far.

His Dad, Mich and Daryl were in the other vehicle. And, Carl frowns as he watches their vehicle. What the? Suddenly he grabs the walkie-talkie and flicks it.

"Whatever you're doing to each other, cut it out. We can freaking see you Dad!" He screeches so loudly Patrick jumps and Carl's own voice cracks on the word freaking.

Patrick looks at the vehicle head in time to see Rick and Michonne sit up and look out the back window. He grins as Michonne blows them a kiss and he blows one back.

"Pat!" Carl snaps at him. Patrick laughs out loud for the first time in nearly a week.

"Dad, I know I joke about it, I don't need to see you having sex okay? I'll never be able to have another orgasm again in my life if I see that!" Carl throws down the radio and doesn't see Patrick staring at him in shock. He focuses on the road and doesn't look up at the vehicle.

Patrick looks back at it, making sure his face doesn't show anything though inside he wants to both laugh and cry. Carl has obviously not realised what he's said. Patrick sees Rick look at Carl and then raise the walkie-talkie to his lips.

" _Another_ orgasm Carl?" Ricks voice is soft as his voice emphases the word another. Patrick feels his balls shrink to the size of peas and try to hide up inside his body. He can see Michonne laughing and Daryl shaking his head.

But Carl is on a roll, channeling Patrick's smart mouth he grabs the walkie-talkie up from the dash where he'd thrown it and thumbs it, "Yeah Dad. It's called jerking off, you know we can't all be lucky enough to have our dicks handled by not one but two other people you know."

He looks at his father evenly and Rick looks back before he nods and then turns around. Michonne looks back at both of them before she just shakes her head and grins, then she unobtrusively wipes non-existent sweat from her brow at their close call.

Carl snorts. "Can't wait until we tell people. Sick of fucking around behind people's backs." He says. He has started using the word fuck around Patrick as he has started using it with Carl. Though Carl still doesn't say it in public as Patrick has learned to now.

"Yeah, but not for a bit yet, you're not even sixteen." Patrick says. "Worlds gone to shit but people are still trying to hold onto the old rules."

Carl nods. "Yeah, stupid. But yeah." Patrick shakes his head.

"Not really, they think if they try to live by society's rules that were in existence beforehand they'll keep their humanity." Carl scoffs and Patrick says no more.

It was something they had always disagreed on, like Carl would never attend story time though Patrick knew he could run rings around them anyway about what really went on there, but still. He thought it was stupid and a waste of time and to a degree he was right. But a lot of the kids had been through traumatic shit now, Carl included. It helped them to feel normal. And Patrick was all for feeling a little normal.

He sighs and looks out the window again and Carl drives on in silence. "Do you miss it that much? The old world? The way it used to be?" Carl questions him quietly sometime later.

Patrick shrugs and looks back at the road, then out the window again. He hasn't looked at Carl since he'd spoken to the others on the walkie-talkie. "Yes and no." He answers honestly.

"What's the yes part?" Carl asks. Patrick smiles sadly, he knew Carl would get it, he always got it and that was the problem. No one else did, possibly ever would, depending on how long they lived and all. And shit he was morbid today.

"Ice cream, KFC, donuts is the really easy part. The not so easy part is my family, my parents, my grandparents. School. Shit, air conditioning dude. You have no idea how much I miss air conditioning. And the Optometrist." He tacks on the last part and Carl glances over at him and smiles. He sees the softness in his eyes even though he doesn't look back.

"And the no?" Carl asks now.

"Bullies from summer, gangs that tried to shove drugs down our throats at malls and the movies and shit, crime. Police never did anything about it, I mean a neighbour had their house broken into, a home invasion you know?" Carl nods and Patrick continues, "He defended himself and he got prosecuted for using force – in his own fucking home, the world was arse backward and only getting worse, now it's almost like natural selection you know?" Carl nods again. This was something he agreed with.

"Yeah, it's like a second chance, stay alive, don't get bit, don't get mixed up with stupid groups and you have a chance, sometimes I wonder if God's sitting up there laughing at us, if he even exists. If he did how could he leave Judy without a parent and all that you know?" Patrick nods now but still doesn't look at Carl.

"Yeah dude, I know." He finally answers and then he looks out the window again. He was so fucking screwed he thought and then he snorted in laughter at himself. Go him, thinking the F word now as well.

"Pat?" Carl asks softly as he continues to look ahead at the road.

"Yeah dude?" Patrick answers without moving his eyes from the passing scenery.

"I feel the same way. About you I mean. Just so you know." Carl didn't say anything further and he never looked at Patrick this time. Patrick turned his head and looked at Carl.

"That why you said we were boyfriends?" He asks quietly not taking his eyes off Carl now.

"Yeah, I want to be with you, don't want to be with anyone else and I wanted to be able to call you something, even if it's just to Mich." Carl answers still looking at the road in front of them.

Patrick sighs as he looks at Carl, guy was cute heading fast toward gorgeous and sexy and hot and fuck. As soon as he discovered girls Patrick knew he was gonna lose him. Suddenly he can't wait for Carl to discover anything further, he needs to know now.

"What about girls?" He continues to look at Carl who spares him a frowning glance.

"What about girls?" He is genuinely puzzled and Patrick just stares at him in shock as he finally, really and truly realises that Carl has no interest in girls. None at all. He'd thought all this time he was just someone to fool around with for Carl. But he hadn't been. Carl was fooling around with him because he liked _him_. He wanted to fool around. With _him_. Patrick. No one else. _Him_. The grin that crosses his face is blinding.

"Oh nothing dude, was just wondering if there were any you wanted to fool around with is all." He says breezily expecting exactly what happens.

Carl's face jerks around in shock as he stares at Patrick with his face pale and his freckles paler if that was possible. "What?" His voice cracks in shock this time as his eyes widen like saucers.

"Nothing, sorry Carl. I feel like such a fucking shitheel. I thought you were fooling around with me, experimenting you know? And when you found a girl, you'd move on." Carl slammed his foot on the brake, stalling the engine. He shoved it in park and kneeled up on the driver's seat.

"You what?" His voice is soft and Patrick suddenly realises he's gone past insulting and irritating Carl. He's hurt him. Patrick watches Rick's vehicle stop and reverse back.

"I'm sorry Carl, I.." Carl slams open the driver's and is out on the road stalking toward the other vehicle. Patrick feels his heart quake. Fuck. The word repeats himself over and over in his brain. He watches as Carl opens the door and gets inside. He sees another door open and double fuck, Rick gets out and walks back. He gets in the driver's seat and they're on their way again.

Rick doesn't speak to him and Patrick resumes staring out the window again, his mind a morass of thoughts. How could he be so fucking stupid? All these months Carl had never given him any indication he was using him to experiment. He was just so used to being used as a substitute he assumed Carl thought of him that way as well.

"Stupid fuck, stupid stupid. He never gave you any idea he was using you, you just assumed he was like the other dudes. Stupid!" Patrick does what he never remembers doing. He speaks out loud.

"I had this friend I grew up with, Shane. We argued like a couple of feral dogs at times. But for the most part, we would've died for each other." Rick says no more and Patrick turns to him with a frown. "And Patrick?" Patrick looks at Rick. "My son isn't a user, we raised him better." Rick says no more having no idea what the disagreement was about. But he got his point across.

Clearing his throat Patrick speaks. "With all due respect Sir, it's none of your business what I did to upset Carl. But I'll make it right, you have my word. And it won't happen again." He feels like a tool saying his piece like that but knows he needs to. It's almost like he's declaring his intentions or something. Not that Rick knows that of course.

Rick nods. "Oh I know you will. And I know Carl will forgive you. He likes you Patrick, he smiles and laughs with you like he does no one else other than Mich, not even me. I have to admit it makes me a little jealous sometimes." Rick smiles at him and looks back at the road. Patrick turns and looks back at the scenery.

Rick's words made him feel worse though that hadn't been his intention. He was a fucking shitheel. He was fucking screwed. He bangs his head on the window several times but stops before Rick can say anything to him about it.

Travelling steadily they stop for the night. Before dark Michonne, Rick and Daryl are leaning over the map spread out on the car when Carl takes a look, he frowns and stabs a finger out. "We're near the farm." His finger drops down on Herschel's land. Rick nods and looks at him.

"You want to go see her?" Before Carl can answer Daryl does.

"We got to anyway, Herschel told me that if the house survived there was a bunch of jams and shit that he had in the cellar, preserves. They'd still be good." He spits off to the side as he turns away and then looks back.

Rick looks at him and down at Carl and then nods. "Okay, horses or farm first?" He looks back at Daryl letting him decide.

"Farm. Then Carl and Patrick can stay there and pack the shit up if its salvageable and we go for the horses." He answers and then steps away to start a fire. Patrick has finished putting up the tents. He drags in their sleeping bags and then takes the sleeping bags into Rick, Daryl & Michonne's tent as well. He doesn't question the sleeping arrangements, he'd been told he and Carl were sharing a tent by Rick on the drive and had only answered in the affirmative.

"Patrick. Carl, grab some wood for me, gonna be cold tonight. Watch out for the snares I've set up already." Daryl says nothing more. Truthfully he's uncomfortable with both boys, he knows something's going on with them but not what. Carl had not said anything to he or Mich today in the truck and Mich. Fuck, he knew she knew exactly what was going on, but she'd warned him away.

He watches them walk off, neither touching but together. They'd been like that for months now that he thought about it. And with Patrick having moved to their cell block this week, they were even more so. Like brothers, no more than…he shuts that thought process off damn smart.

Fuck, if they were it was really none of his business, not unless they made it. It was his business if they or Rick talked to him about it. Not even his business if Michonne talked to him about it. Fuck. Shaking himself Daryl turns and runs smack bang into Michonne. She was one of the few people who could sneak up on him.

"Shit Mich." He says testily.

Raising an eyebrow Michonne looks at Daryl. "Finished your introspection Redneck?" She knew what he'd been thinking about.

"Yeah yeah, none of my business," He paused to catch her eyes and she caught her breath at their fierceness, "Unless they make it my business." Michonne nodded.

"Don't guess it'll your business until Rick finds out." Daryl nods his head.

"I do not fuckin' envy him that conversation." He says as Michonne stares after Carl and Patrick.

"Neither do I." Daryl snorts and she raises both eyebrows this time.

"I meant Rick, not Carl. Carl'll be fine, he was fine today, he'll be fine then too. Rick though, well he's gonna have issues." Michonne looks at him now with a frown.

"Why would Rick have issues with Carl preferring a man, seems like he swings in that direction himself." She is sarcastic, forgetting for once that Daryl is one of the few that can match her sarcasm.

"Oh I don't know Mich, guess if you'd fuckin' stuck around more you'd hear his conversations about how Carl will 'carry on', get married, have kids, do his part to keep the human race goin' you know, shit like that." He shakes his head at her and Michonne feels as she rarely let's herself feel, properly put in her place.

Before she can even think to say anything though Daryl is gone. She is left standing outside their tent and wondering what the hell had just happened. Then she hears voices and looks to the forest.

##########

Carl walks into the woods with Patrick beside him. "I'll load you up then grab some." He says quietly now as he begins to grab branches and stack them firmly in Patrick's arms. By doing this Patrick isn't going to be able to touch him. Carl doesn't want Patrick to touch him right now.

"You hurt me Pat, you always say shit like that to me, why do you want to fool around with me if you think I'm gonna dump you? Do you think that little of yourself?" Carl is stacking the branches as he talks and Patrick merely looks at him. He doesn't answer, probably because he knows Carl isn't finished talking.

"Why Pat? Why do you keep doing that to me? To us? I like you, more than like you and I know you feel the same. Why?" Carl's voice cracks and instead of putting the baseball bat sized branch he'd picked up in Patrick's arms along with the other branches he turns abruptly and smashes it against the trunk of the tree he was standing beside. Patrick jumps but manages to keep hold of the branches he has in his arms.

Carl turns to him and looks him in the eye. "Screw you, you want me to go after girls and mess around with them? That's what I'll do." He says no more and Patrick opens his mouth but Carl has vanished like a wraith into the trees around him. Patrick moves after him but is brought up by Michonne.

"Guess you did the same thing I do. Assume he's going to do something that never even enters his mind." Michonne shakes her head as she takes his load, "Go now, no yelling though. Daryl might know but Rick's nowhere ready to." Patrick nods once at her and jogs off, following Carl.

He finds him by a stream, standing there just staring at the water. Taking a deep breath Patrick walks up behind Carl, he knows Carl has heard him already. He slides his arms around Carl's body, trapping his arms by his waist, and leans his chin on his shoulder staring out at the water with Carl. Neither speak. "No one ever wanted me before." Patrick says.

"That's not an excuse, you don't know me at all if you think I'd use you like that Pat." Carl's body still hasn't softened. Patrick gives a hum of agreement.

"Thing is, you can't be going off after girls you know, they more than likely won't rim for starters and no girl is gonna fuck your arse when you're ready either retard. No equipment." Patrick tries humour.

Carl makes no other movement but Patrick thinks he feels a slight softening of his muscles. Hoping he was right he continues. "And the thing is, I've never hit a girl before dude, but if you go after one of them that like you back at the prison, I will. I will smack them down permanently for touching what is mine." Carl stiffens in his arms again and Patrick tightens his own hold expecting a battle royal.

But Carl surprises him by twisting in his arms, still keeping his own by his sides and not fighting Patrick's tight embrace. He tilts his head and stares up at him in the afternoon sun.

"I don't like any of them, I like you. But I'm not going to keep after you Pat, I'm tired of you saying I'll move on. If you expect that then maybe you should move on." He stares at Patrick evenly, waiting for his response. Patrick swallows as he realises he could lose Carl.

"No, I won't let you go, if you have to smack me up the side of the head sometimes I don't care, but if you want me, I'm not letting you go." He doesn't know what else to say so he crushes his mouth down on Carl's. Carl doesn't respond so Patrick slides his mouth along Carl's cheekbone, down his neck kissing him soft and wet, he sucks a little, just a little as he pulls Carl's t-shirt out from his collarbone and then pushes it up as he begins to nip and suck at Carl's nipples. He can feel Carl's dick getting hard.

But other than that he's not responding. "You can't prove it to me with sex Pat." Carl says quietly stopping Patrick in his tracks.

"How then?" Patrick asks quietly as he stands up and lets Carl go.

"By trusting me, in every way. Not with life and death stuff, but the stuff inside. If you can't then we shouldn't be boyfriends." Carl pulls back and then moves to a load of wood Patrick hadn't noticed. He picks it up and starts to walk back to the camp. Patrick follows, picking up more wood along the way.

They sleep side-by-side that night without touching once.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just FYI, if you're a sucker for sad endings, this story doesn't have one. Patrick will live.


	9. Chapter 9

Carl is in the passenger seat as they drive slowly down the road to the Greene farm. He didn't want to drive going back, he wanted to be able to watch. He stares at the burned shell of the barn where Sophia had been for days before being discovered as a Walker. He rubs his chest, as if doing so will get rid of the scar from his bullet wound.

Then he looks at the hill where he'd shot Shane. "I shot my Dad's best friend up there." He points vaguely and Patrick looks over at him.

"Shane?" He questions.

"Yeah, how'dyou know his name?" Carl doesn't look at him, now he's looking over to the trees where Sophia is buried.

"Your dad told me when you left the jeep yesterday, said he'd had a friend Shane, that they'd fought like feral dogs but for the most part they would have died for each other." Patrick says no more as he watches Carl carefully. The guy was brimming with emotion, none of it good.

He looks around at the farm, the burned barn and a couple of other outbuildings. The house hadn't caught fire though. It was still standing but long looted. "Herschel still thinks there's going to be shit worth saving in the cellar?" He questions dubiously.

The place has a foreboding melancholy feel to it. He hasn't even switched off the engine and he already wants to leave. He wants badly to know why Carl had killed Shane but Carl isn't talking to him at present, or at least not much so Patrick bides his time. Whatever it is it's a doozy of a story he can tell.

"Pat, will you help me bury Shane if I can find anything of him?" Carl asks quietly as he looks back at the hill.

Glancing over Patrick's heart lurches in his chest. Carl was asking something of him. Muscles he hadn't realised were tense begin to release.

"Yeah dude," He is careful to becasual. "Of course." He says no more as he turns the jeep so it's facing the driveway again and then switches off the engine. Stepping out onto the ground Patrick stretches his arms over his head. He feels his shirt ride up and his pants ride down but ignores them.

Michonnedoesn't though. She frowns as she sees a bruise low on Patricks' back. Then she glances quickly at Rick and Daryl to make sure neither of them have seen it. They haven't. Shaking her head at youth and wondering if there are corresponding marks on Carl she narrows her eyes as she looks ar Rick and Daryl.

They're both looking at the house and the small copse of trees where she can see the old remains of what appears to be an outdoor kitchen and a clothesline. Pursing her lips she wonders about regressing a little herself tonight. Then shaking her head at herself she looks over at Carl.

He was watching Patrick, the look in his eyes made her smile. Yeah, they were still together, no matter what had happened, what they'd argued about, Carl was still interested in Patrick. Patrick she knew was still interested in Carl.

"Boys." She laughs outright as all four of them turn to look at her. "Boys," She points to Carl and Patrick, "Let's check out this cellar."

Daryl jerks his head. "There's a side entrance over there. Hidden behind the trellis. Herschel said it's easier to get in that way. The house one was blockedoff for some reason." He and Rick take off toward the burned out barn, looking for God knows what. Unsheathingher katana Michonne watches Patrick take out his tomahawk and Carl pick up his machete.

She really needed to teach these two how to handle blades, they were a team, they needed to fight as a team as well. Work as a team in full. "When we get back, you two are getting lessons in some close-up work. You're not going to beable to rely on bullets all the time Carl." Michonne speaks to them both however.

Patrick nods and Carl looks at her with a frown. "If you're going to go on runs together, as a team, you need to learn to fight as a team as well." Michonne clarifies.

"How did you know we'd decided on that?" Carl questions Michonne abruptly.

"I just do runt, I just do." Is all Michonne will answer as she begins to walk toward the trellis she can see off to the side of the house. They follow it around until they're at the back and then they see a small gap.

"Wonder why is so well hidden?" Michonne speaks mainly to herself as they find the opening and Patrick's tomahawk makes short work of the rusting chain.

"Moonshine most likely, probably before Herschel's time given how old the house is." Patrick answers absently as he looks at the doors. Taking a deep breath he hoists them open and jumps back.

Cool, dank air greets them, no odor of any kind that signifies death. They all exhale quietly and flick on the torches they'd grabbed. "This stuff if it's okay, I bet it's all gonna be breakable." Carl mutters as he takes point.

"Shit." Patrick answers as he realises Carl is right.

"Seconded." Michonne agrees as she follows Carl and Patrick down the creaking stairs.

And it is okay, all of it. Preserves galore. Carl can't even recognise half of it. Hopefully Herschel, Maggie and Beth will be able to recognise what they bring back. They set up a chain gang and get everything up by late afternoon. Carl dusts his hands and looks at Patrick as he tilts his head back taking a drink of water.

"Will you check the field with me Pat?" He asks quietly. He should probably tell his dad what he's doing but he doesn't want to. He wants someone there who won't question him, who will just be there. For him.

"Yeah dude, sure." Patrick caps his water bottle and puts it back grabbing another full one. They tell Michonne where they're going and she nods at them with a frown and they walk off. Together. But not yet back together.

Walking to the field where Carl had taken a man's life for the second time he stands and stares. His father and Daryl are there. On the ground, Daryl is kneeling behind Rick, hugging and rocking him from behind as Rick sobs brokenly.

Carl and Patrick stop and look without saying anything. Carl suddenly feels Patrick clasp his hand and he threads his fingers through Patrick's as they slowly back away. Daryl's head comes up like an animal scenting prey and he watches them without saying or doing anything further. Moving back down the hill Carl suddenly stops and sinks to the ground.

"Shane was the second person I killed. Dale was the first." He says softly. He feels Patrick sink down beside him and slide an arm around his shoulders. Like Daryl with Rick, he holds Carl not saying a word. He simply let's Carl know he's there for him with his touch.

Sometime later a moan filters to their ears on the soft late afternoon breeze. They both look back and then at each other. Carl grimaces as Patrick grins. "Don't say a word Pat, don't you even dare." Carl threatens him as he scrambles to his feet.

Patrick snorts. "Uh yeah sure. Let's get the fuck out of here, your old man is giving me a hard on." He palms his cock bringing it to Carl's attention and it is indeed getting hard. Watching Patrick touch himself makes Carl's own dick begin to grow.

Looking at Patrick Carl suddenly steps forward and winds his arms around his neck, his mouth glides over Patrick's softly and Patrick slides his arms around Carl's waist and then down, palming his backside as he pulls him closer, rubbing their dicks together as they continue to kiss.

Carl pulls back and kisses Patrick chin before he nips it and pulls away. Looking at Patrick as they're both nearly the same height now he speaks. "I'll forgive you this time Pat, but I'm not an undying well. You keep not trusting me with your head we're gonna have serious issues. I like you, only you. No one else. You beat that through your thick skull right quick okay?"

Swallowing audibly Patrick looks at Carl. "Be easier if we told people, I won't lie. But yeah, yeah." He breaks off and breathes in and out deeply a few times. They both glance back at the hill as both Daryl and Rick are moaning now. Together they walk back to the house. "I'll do my best Carl, I'll do my best, I need you you know? And that's a hard thing to admit." He stops and turns to Carl as Carl stops and just hugs him.

"And I'll be here or there for you, always. We're planning that Pat, we need to make the most of how long we have left. Because none of us know how long it will be." Carl's hands slide up Patrick's back and into his hair, he fists the shorter strands and yanks none too gently as he pulls Patrick's head back and latches his mouth on Patrick's Adam's apple.

It's Patrick's turn to moan now. Then Carl pulls away and takes off for the house at a jog leaving Patrick behind hard and aroused beyond belief. "You fucker." He mutters to himself and hears Carl's answering chuckle on the breeze. He starts after Carl at a walk thinking of exactly what punishment he's going to exact from him that night. He has a feeling they won't be sleeping and not touching tonight.

##########

Michonnehas brought their sleeping bags and packs inside and situated them upstairs, she's in the process of putting a couple of snares at the bottom of the steps. Carl flops on the stiff lounge setting up a cloud of dust that makes him sneeze. Michonneand Patrick laugh at him as his first sneeze is continued by several more in rapid succession.

"Yeah, laugh at the dude who can't stop sneezing." He manages to sneeze twice while speaking and they laugh more.

When Carl's sneezes settle down and they're in the kitchen preparing their dinner Carl speaks again. "Mich, do you know if Dad went there to see if there was anything he could bury?" He knows Michonne would already be aware of what his dad and Daryl were doing, where they'd gone.

"I don't know, he didn't mention wanting to bury him if he found any remains Carl. Sorry." She rubs her hand through his hair, tousling it even further. "Need's a good brushing runt." She says as her fingers tangle in it.

"Oh no, Patrick likes it messy." Carl answers thoughtlessly.

Michonne raises an eyebrow and glances over at Patrick who is now blushing.

"Carl." He hisses in mortification. Carl looks up.

When the penny drops his face flushes in the light ofthe lantern they're using now. Michonnelaughs at both of them before turning away. "You two better be quiet tonight, we'd better not hear you or Rick'll find out."

And like that a naked Patrick is on Carl's mind. He stares at Patrick who stares back. Before they can move they hear Rick and Daryl coming inside. The generator had been takenso they were dining by lanterns. They all eat what they'd prepared and talk about what they're going to do tomorrow. They'll spend a day here and then move on for the horses. Carl is fidgeting in his seat.

Patrick is on his mind and he's suddenly aware they're sleeping together, for the second night actually. But this time they're not arguing. He glances at Pat under his lashes and catches his eye. Pat flushes this time and Carl smiles. A few minutes later he stands.

"I'm going to grab a shower before I turn in." They'd tested the pipes and found they were still working. Michonne had already showered in fact.

"Carl," Rick stands and follows him.

"Yeah Dad?" Carl answers as he stands on the stairs, it puts him eye to eye with Rick.

"Are you okay with Michonne and Daryl and myself?" Rick asks quietly so his voice doesn't carry to the others. "I know you joke about it, but are you truly okay?"

Carl nods. "Yeah Dad, I am. They make you happy. How they do that doesn't matter. But Dad?" He stops and waits for Rick's nod. "You treat them right okay? Don't hide them. And I expect the same consideration from you." Carl turns and heads up the stairs leaving Rick's mouth hanging open after him.

"Out of the mouths of babes." Daryl mutters behind him.

Rick nods. "Absolutely. And he's right, we should stop hiding, it's not fair to either of you."

"If you're sure." Daryl answers as he skates a hand down Rick's back before he turns and heads out to sit on the porch. Rick goes back in to say good night to Patrick and then follows him outside. Michonne comes out some time later.

Patrick heads upstairs as Michonne goes outside. He leaves a lit lantern in their chosen bedroom, they had a double bed. Smiling he grabs some clean pants and heads to the shower. He knocks just as Carl opens the door wearing nothing but a towel.

Knowing everyone else is outside and a floor below them Patrick simply leans in and kisses Carl sliding an arm around his waist as his other holds his own towel and pants tight to his own body. Carl slides both arms up and around Patrick's neck, twining them through his hair. Unlike his, Patrick's hair is wavy.

Breaking off with a slight moan Carl pulls Patrick inside and then moves around him. "We can't in here, Dad could see." Patrick nods and smiles as Carl kisses him quickly and pulls the door shut. Patrick strips and showers in the cold water. Cold running water was better than nothing. He's covered in goose bumps by the time he finishes but he's clean.

Drying off roughly to get warm Patrick looks at his pants and then shrugs and hitches the towel around his hips as Carl had done and double times it back to the bedroom where his boyfriend was waiting for him.

When he gets there the room is dark however. "Carl?" He questions.

"On the bed Pat." Carl answers. Patrick feels his way to the bed and drops his pants and dirty clothes as well as his towel. He feels around and realises Carl has put their bedding together on top of the mattress and turned his side down. Sliding in Patrick reaches for Carl.

He is turnedon his side away from Patrick. But at Patrick's touch he slides back and pushes himself into Patrick's arms. Patrick spoons around him and Carl sighs. Kissing the side of Carl's neck Patrick feels his dick rise.

As he strokes his hands over Carl's smooth skin he hears Carl moan lightly. "Pat." He sighs Patrick's name soft and sweet. Patrick leans over Carl and kisses him, tongue sliding into his mouth and twirling around before he pulls back and kisses Carl's cheek and then moves to his ear.

"You know dude, the ear is supposedto be an erogenous zone?" He asks as he begins to kiss and lick the sensitive shell of Carl's ear.

"Oh, Pat." Is all Carl can answer.

"Touch yourself for me, want you to come for me tonight Carl while I pretend to pop your cherry." Patrick says softly as he fists his own dick and carefully places it in the groove of Carl's buttocks. The dry drag hurts though. "Shit." Patrick says quietly. Then he feels Carl reach for something and a tube is pressed into his hand.

"I brought this, Mich has given me three tubes remember?" Carl asks softly as Patrick stares in the moonlight at the tube of lube Carl has pressed into his hand. Then he looks up at Carl. He is all smoke and shadow, the moon highlights part of his cheekbone, an eyebrow and his bottom lip.

Leaning back in Patrick sucks on Carl's lip as his thumb flips open the tube. Squeezing a minimal amount of the gel onto his fingers he smooth's it over his cock combining it with the pre-come. And then he slides his slick fingers back to Carl's crack and smooth's them over it.

Paying particular attention to Carl's hole he doesn't push on it, merely touches it. He feels it flex nervously under his ministrations. "Shh, not going to. Just letting you know how good it feels, you should play with yourself here you know. Maybe you can do that while I drive or something, that would be so fucking sexy dude. If I was driving and you were sitting there all open with your fingers inside yourself, fucking yourself for me while I drive." Patrick cannot help sucking on Carl's neck though he comes to his senses quickly and moves down to Carl's chest, sliding his head under Carl's arm to suck on his nipple and then bite it none-too-gently.

Carl moans again, slightly louder this time. They both freeze when they hear a corresponding moan. "Shit, God. Can't they get a room like us?" Carl mutters softly and Patrick snickers before he puts his dick between Carl's legs and begins to fuck it between Carl's cheeks.

Dry humping him, not penetrating him. Carl moans again though quieter. "God, Pat. Is this what it's like to have sex?" His voice is reedy, breathless with arousal.

"Something like this yeah. But," Patrick breaks off as he feels his balls draw up. He pulls back not wanting to come yet and then slides his slick fingers through Carl's crease instead as Carl continues to jerk himself off.

"Being inside someone is way better. It's tight you know? And hot and even though I wore a rubber, it was wetter somehow. It's like nirvana dude." Patrick finally answers. He is surprisedto feel Carl push back on his fingers, almost like his butt is reaching for him.

"Oh God, Pat." Carl repeats himself. Patrick feels Carl's balls draw up and he pushes his dick back into the crevice of Carl's legs, sliding back and forth between Carl's cheeks, holding them apart with one hand so in the partial moonlight he can sort of see. But not really. God, he wants to see his dick disappear into Carl one of these days.

Latching back ontoCarl's nipple Patrick suck it strongly and smiles around it as he feels Carl shoot onto the bedding. His own orgasm rolls through him and he shoots between Carl's legs feeling Carl close his thighs to make the haven of his buttock cheeks tighter for him and he groans without thought as he feels the heat of Carl's hole slide along his dick as he pushes back and forth with his hips, mimicking sex.

Suddenly Carl squirms around in bed until he's facing Patrick, looking at him Patrick sees him in shadow again. Highlights of Carl's face. He tangles his fingers in Carl's hair and pulls his head back. He sees Carl's teeth glimmer at him.

"What dude?" He asks softly as he kisses Carl's cheeks softly before being drawn to Carl's mouth again.

"Just thinking of what I said to Mich is all." Carl answers him when they draw back for breath.

Before Patrick can answer they hear footsteps on the stairs. One set pause by their door as the others continue on. Acting together Carl and Patrick fling themselves apart and bury themselves in the bedding, both trying to breathe evenly and deeply as Rick sticks his head in and then pulls back closing the door behind him gently.

In sync they both wait several minutes before they move back together again. They faintly hear the shower start-up as they cuddle into each other's arms.

"That was amazing Pat, I want to do it to you next time." Carl says softly. Patrick swallows as he feels his dick perk up again at the thought of Carl being behind him.

He looks at Carl, moonlight highlighting his eyes this time. "No time like the present." He says as he turns over and grabs the lube. Popping the top he slides some onto his fingers and then reaching back behind himself and making sure Carl is watching he slides it along his butt crack.

"I," Carl stops and Patrick hears him swallow as his fingers come to tangle with Patrick's this time, pushing and prodding gently along the crease and then sliding nice and slippery over Patrick's own hole.

"Carl." Patrick gasps as he feels Carl prod at him. His hole pushes out for Carl and he hears Carl gasp as he feels it open for him.

"Pat?" He questions.

"Yes, put your fingers in." Patrick answers Carl's unasked question. He grabs Carl's other hand and pulls his fingers to his mouth to suck on them and contain his moan as Carl's fingers push into him. He's pushing two in and Patrick finds himself moving on them.

Fucking them as if he was fucking Carl's dick. His own fingers move back to Carl's dick. It's hard again as well. Sliding them over Carl's dick Patrick feels his eyes roll in his head. He begins to jerk Carl off as Carl's fingers move in his backside. When they skate across his prostate Patrick can't help shooting.

His fingers clench down on Carl's dick and he feels wetness splash his cheeks as Carl comes again as well.

The both freeze when the shower shuts off. There is no way they can hide what has happened now, the room reeks of come as they've both come twice. But the footsteps don't come and check on them thankfully.

Bringing his hand up to his face Patrick licks it clean and then Carl slowly pulls his fingers out of Patrick's butt and slides them through his come on Patrick's back and thighs. Patrick obediently licks them clean when Carl brings them to his mouth. When Carl gathers up the remaining come he licks it off his own hand this time.

Then Patrick turns in his arms and they kiss, sharing each other's come now. They nearly fall asleep but force themselves up quietly to dress a little and open all the windows to air the room.

"Weird, you'd think the windows would be broken by now." Carl says softly as they both climb back in bed and pull the covers up.

"Yeah maybe. Maybe it's because they're on the upper level?" Patrick muses. Neither of them care enough to keep talking. Carl turns on his side and Patrick spoons to him. They twine their fingers together and rest them on Carl's stomach as they go to sleep together.

Boyfriends again.


	10. Chapter 10

Carl wakes the next morning as the sun begins to rise. He dresses quietly and moves down the stairs avoiding the snares. Outside he sets his hat on his head and walks toward the trees. When he gets there he stops at Otis' grave first and bows his head saying a silent thank you.

Then he moves to Dale's grave. He stands there for some time. He hopes Dale is with his wife if the afterlife exists. He knew the old man had liked the sound of his own voice, but nobody deserved to die the way Carl had let him die. If he had not chickened out and run off without killing the Walker and then been too afraid to tell anyone about it Dale may still be alive.

"I'm sorry." Carl whispers as he moves on. He stands at her grave. The sun rises and bathes him in light. Daryl thinks he looks almost angelic as he watches him from the porch where he'd been sitting when Carl had walked past. When hears Patrick's footsteps from their bedroom he rises and walks to Carl.

"Patrick's awake." He says quietly as he stands with Carl.

"I'm sorry I stole your gun." Carl says without acknowledging Daryl's words.

"'S okay, Rick squared it." Daryl answers though something small and unrealized inside him unknots at the apology. It had been a long time coming but it had come.

"Still, I shouldn't have stolen it Daryl and I'm sorry." Carl turns and looks up at him. Daryl stares at him, slightly flummoxed as he realises in about two more inches Carl is going to equal his height.

"Like I said, Rick squared it." He goes to turn away but is stopped by Carl's words.

"How? I mean a weapon means life and death now."

"You really wanna' know the answer to that kid?" Daryl drawls as he raises a brow at Carl. He's lying but hell, if he can't mess with the kid of one of his significant others who can he mess with these days?

Carl surprises him by laughing though. "Nice try Daryl. That's okay, you don't have to say but I figure I owe you. And if you make sure Pat and I go on runs together every time from now on I'll owe you more." Carl turns back to contemplating Sophia's grave and Daryl turns away.

He's taken several steps when he looks up and sees Patrick standing on the front steps of the house. He looks at him then turns back to Carl.

"Hey Carl?" He waits until Carl turns around. "You're a good kid, Patrick's a good kid. Has a good heart. You stomp on that and I'm gonna stomp on you, you got that?" He says it quietly, his drawl making the words seem almost frivolous.

But Carl hears the sheer honest menace in them. He swallows. Then he nods.

"Yeah, I hear you Daryl, its nice Pat has someone else looking out for him. But you should know he's my boyfriend now, I'm not stomping on anything, he'll be around and we'll be together for a long time. Neither of us is going anywhere if we can help it."

Daryl shakes his head as Carl turns back to Sophia then he looks back at Patrick and raises his arm gesturing for Patrick. When he gets there he surprises both of them by clasping his shoulder.

"Patrick meet Sophia, she was Carol's daughter. Got lost when we had a herd on the highway, then got bit. Rick put her down properly." Daryl gives the dry bones first. As Patrick looks at him quizzically and Carl turns around to stare as well. "She was Carl's best friend once the infection hit. Carl introduce Patrick to Sophia." He gives Patrick's shoulder a gentle shove and Patrick steps forward to stand beside Carl.

Daryl turns and walks off tossing over this shoulder. "Take your time."

Carl watches him and shakes his head.

"I so want to be Daryl when I grow up." Patrick says with a sigh as he watches Daryl's lithe frame eat up the yards back to the house.

"He's pigeon-toed." Carl flushes in mortification as Patrick turns to him with a frown. "Well, he is!" He insists knowing how mean it sounded but Patrick's admiration for Daryl knew no bounds and after Daryl had basically told him he was going to beat him up if he treated Patrick wrong he wasn't feeling any particular Daryl love.

"Carl. Jeez he might pigeon-toed, I still wanna be him. Or like him." Carl frowns.

"Yeah I remember your 'man-crush' He makes quote marks in the air at the words man-crush. He goes to move away but Patrick grabs his arm.

"Don't make me put you down dude, do like Daryl said and introduce me to your friend, you're being rude you know."

Carl stops and looks at Patrick, "She's dead Pat." His words are dull and emotionless.

"Not the point." Patrick says as he pulls Carl's unresisting body down with him so they're both sitting in the damp grass.

Sighing Carl sits and crosses his legs. Patrick slides his hand from Carl's upper arm to his hand and laces their fingers together in his lap. Carl finds himself gripping Pat's hand as he looks at the now slightly depressed earth that holds Sophia.

"Soph, I want you to meet my boyfriend Patrick. Pat this is Sophia. I'm the only one that calls him Pat, so don't do that okay?" Carl feels monumentally stupid but Patrick merely nods and then l looking up at early morning sky he speaks as well.

"Hey Sophia, nice to meet you. I'm sorry I can't really meet you. Something tells me we would have gotten into a lot of trouble together." He tightens his hold on Carl's hand and continues. "I promise I'll treat him right, make him happy."

Looking over at Patrick Carl reaches his other hand to his eyes and wipes away his tears, he is unashamed of crying in front of Patrick. "She wanted to visit the Grand Canyon." He says out of the blue. "We were all gonna go, me and Mum and Dad and Carol and Sophia. But the herd came along when we were on the way to Fort Benning and everything went to shit and Soph died."

He lays his head down in Patrick's lap and cries. For himself, for Sophia and for Shane and Dale. "I killed Dale because I found a Walker in the swamp and couldn't kill it. I wasn't supposed to be out so I didn't tell anyone about it. And then it got free and followed my scent back to the farm and killed Dale. It was my fault. And then Shane, my Dad killed him and he turned so I had to put him down or he would have killed Dad."

Patrick is clueless about what he should do. So he does nothing but let Carl cry and stroke his hair. He rocks himself back and forth, hoping the movement comforts Carl. The sun has been up for some time when Carl finally stops crying. Patrick is stiff from sitting with his legs crossed under him for too long and one of them has gone to sleep he's sure.

As he feels and hears Carl's breathing even out he looks down at him. His eyes are closed. "You awake Carl?" He asks quietly not wanting to wake him if he is asleep but needing to move if he's awake.

"Yeah, I'll get up." Carl sits up rubbing his eyes and taking up the collar of his shirt to wipe his face. He is red and splotchy, his freckles standing out and his eyes are red-rimmed and bloodshot. But he looks better, at peace somehow. Which Patrick thinks is weird as he'd never before thought Carl wasn't at peace. But it was like somehow a weight had lifted off him.

Like he'd felt when he'd finally realised that Carl wasn't going anywhere he guessed. That Carl was his, his boyfriend for as long as they could make it work. Patrick smiles at Carl as he blows his nose on the bottom of his shirt.

Carl stands and brushes himself off. Then he holds out a hand to Patrick to help him up and holds on when Patrick shakes his leg to get the pins and needles out of it.

"Shit that hurts." He complains.

"Sorry Pat." Carl says as he waits for Patrick to be able to walk without limping.

"It's okay, you'd do the same for me. Part of the job description anyway."

Carl frowns. "Job description? What are you talking about? Wait, there's a job description?" His voice is horrified and Patrick nearly falls over laughing at the look on his face.

"Dude, no. Shit. It's what my mum always said to my dad when he thanked her for doing something." He laughs again, letting go of tension he didn't know he had harboured until he feels his scalp relax and his shoulders drop. The relief in them nearly has him wince at how tight they'd been.

Laughter really was the best medicine he guessed.

They walk back to the house and sit on the porch steps. Patrick looks out over the fields. It doesn't feel melancholy or forbidding anymore. "Hey Carl?" He waits until Carl turns to look at him. "We should do that in a few years. Take that trip together, for you and Sophia."

"The Grand Canyon?" Carl questions in shock.

"Yeah, be fun, dangerous, but a hell of a trip you know?" He watches Carl blink several times. Then nod slowly.

"It would be, Dad and Daryl and Mich wouldn't let us go for years though." He muses. "Though really in a couple they won't be able to stop us either." He thinks of it quietly. Travelling with Patrick, sleeping with him, fighting with him. Taking a journey almost like a holiday with him. "I'd love to Pat." He says softly as he places a hand on Patrick's thigh giving it a squeeze before he pulls back again as they hear footsteps inside coming toward them.

##########

Later that afternoon Carl steps into the shower again, this time to wash off the grime of the day. He's musing on how good a day they've had. Just packing and stuff and taking what else they could from the house for Herschel and Maggie and Beth. Carl had gone through Maggie's room for something she still treasured that she would appreciate.

She'd saved Judith's life, he always tried to be appreciative of her for doing that. He honestly didn't know if his dad had ever thanked her. He just couldn't remember. Those days were bad, trying to keep himself from breaking as his father had done.

Remembering how much the photograph he'd taken back for Judith meant to him he hoped the photographs he'd nabbed would be okay and the right choice.

The door banged open as he was rinsing off, Patrick heading for the toilet and putting up the lid as he opened his pants. "Pat, I'm still here." Carl says to him.

"Sorry dude, busting." Patrick exhales as he empties his bladder.

Carl shakes his head. "You know we've made do when we've had to for a few years now, one night under a roof and you've become civilized again. Don't think I like that." He mutters the last sentence but Patrick heard him.

Arching a brow he turns his head and looks over at Carl standing there wet and naked, the shower curtain having been purloined already. He looks sexy wet. Patrick thinks, all dripping hair and pale skin. Standing there with the water still going and his hands on his hips in an irritated fashion Patrick suddenly wanted nothing more than to go to his knees and suck his dangling dick into his mouth.

Instead knowing others are in the house he shakes his shoulders and snorts. Deliberately eyeing Carl's dick he looks over at him sardonically. "Dude, I had no idea you had such a small dick."

He watches Carl narrow his eyes at him. "You don't seem to think that when you're messing with it. You feel that way you don't have to be touching it all the time." He calls Patrick's bluff and turns around, deliberately arching his back and grabbing the soap so he can wash his backside.

Knowing Patrick hasn't left yet he makes sure he takes his time, let's Patrick see how clean he's getting himself. Then he feels fingers there alongside his own and he braces against the wall, making no bones about letting Patrick fondle him.

Looking back over his shoulder Carl smirks at Patrick upon seeing his flushed face. "Guess you don't mind the size of my dick after all Pat." Patrick shakes his head before he slides an arm around Carl's waist and pulls him back against his clothed body.

Kissing his neck lightly Carl simply melts back into him and sighs in pleasure. And that sigh, just this side of silent, almost a whimper actually nearly had Patrick going to his knees then and there to suck Carl off. He steps away when he hears boots on the stairs and Carl quickly turns to face the cold shower water, hissing softly as he pushes his erection into the spray. Patrick goes back to the toilet and puts the lid down, sitting on it he begins to take off his boots.

The door is still open. Rick sticks his head in. "Guys, you be okay here for a bit? We're gonna take quick run into the town, see if we can find anything" He questions them.

"Yes sir." Patrick answers as he takes off his boots and then his socks.

"Sure dad." Carl says as he finishes rinsing off and steps out of the tub grabbing his towel.

"Okay then, we'll be back around dark, no later." He turns then turns back again. "Patrick, call me Rick." Not waiting for an acknowledgement he turns back and walks down the stairs. Halfway there he frowns and pauses before continuing. He'd ask Carl later about that fading bruise.

Carl looks at Patrick and he looks back. They both stand and stare silently as they listen to Rick, Daryl and Michonne head outside and then a vehicle start up. Neither of them move until the sound of it has died away completely and there is no sound other than the wind in the trees outside.

The afternoon is theirs, completely.

Carl is suddenly aware he is breathing heavily and his dick is hard again despite the cold water he'd just washed over it to soften it in his father's presence. He hears his breath rasping in and out and lowers his gaze.

"No, dude. Don't. I love watching you." He feels his face flame. This is the most private they've ever been in all their months together. He looks back at Patrick from under his lashes and he smiles as Patrick's pupils dilate as their eyes connect. Carl thinks his are probably dilated too. The small amount of light coming in through the window seems brighter suddenly.

"We're alone." He says unnecessarily.

"Yeah, I still need to shower though." Patrick says as he continues to undress. Carl nods and picks up his discarded clothes, he takes them into the room they're using and puts them on the floor, he hears the shower start up and he releases a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

Going quickly down the stairs he makes sure the snares are set up for Walker and human alike. Then he hot-foots it back up the stairs and looks at their room. The late afternoon sun is coming in through the windows and he quickly throws their bedding on the floor and arranges it. Hearing the shower shut off, he swallows and looks around wildly. Where…there it was. He grabbed the lube in case it was needed and shoved it under his pillow.

Then he lies down in the centre of the bedding and crossing his legs at the ankles and his hands over his stomach he waits. Patrick steps into the room a few minutes later carrying his boots and clothes as well. He stops dead when he sees Carl lying in the sunlight. He can just see the fading edge of his love bite at the edge of the towel.

Letting his clothes and boots fall to the ground he steps forward, also wearing nothing but a towel. "Towel off." He says abruptly as he lets his own fall away.

He watches Carl swallow as he raises his hips nearly making Patrick come as he watched the towel be pulled away. Kneeling down Patrick brushes a thumb across the fading bruise. It doesn't cross his mind that Rick might have seen it today. Carl inhales sharply as he does so and Patrick smiles as he leans down and opens his mouth over it, sucking the blood back to the surface again.

Carl brushes his hand through Patrick's wet hair, its dripping like his is, but that's okay. Not realising what he's doing he pushes Patrick's face harder against him so he sucks harder as well. He moans when Patrick moans and feels his balls draw up.

"Gonna come." He says and Patrick draws back quickly. His hand reaching for the base of Carl's dick and tightening on it. Carl gasps as his orgasm recedes. He frowns up at Patrick and pouts at him. "How come you never told me about that trick Pat? Am I ever gonna know everything about sex?" He asks in a disgruntled tone.

Laughing Patrick sits back and shakes his head. "Dude, how many fucking times to I have to tell you, dudes don't fucking pout." He shoves Carl's shoulder as he laughs at Carl. Carl can't help laughing back. He knew he was pouting, despite what Patrick said, Carl knew he liked when he did it.

"Anyway," He says changing the subject. "How do you want me to suck you?" Patrick freezes as he stares down at Carl and Carl suddenly feels at a disadvantage lying down. "You do still want me to?" he asks quietly as he sits up.

Patrick nods emphatically. "Hell yeah. But," He pauses as he looks at Carl from under how own lashes now with a fey smile. Carl suddenly realises that is how he looks at Patrick and he understands why Patrick is putty in his hands sometimes. That look, that look was something Carl would kill for all over again. "I want to suck you first." Patrick finishes as he licks his lips and lies down on his stomach.

"Here is okay? I mean, I know you wanted to be outside in the sunlight…" He trails off as Patrick looks up.

"Here is just fine Carl. But only if you're ready. Are you ready?" He asks simply as he leans on his elbows, hovering over Carl's dick but making no move toward it. He was waiting for Carl to say it was okay, that he was ready.

Carl nods slowly. Patrick doesn't move however, knowing Carl is readying himself to speak. "Yeah Pat, I'm ready. I want to suck you so bad. But, I don't, I mean you don't have to suck me first or at all you know. I, I just wanted you to know that, you don't have to do me."

Patrick kneels up again and scoots forward until he's straddling Carl's thighs. He sits on him and Carl inhales as he feels Pat's balls rub on his still-hard dick. Before he can say anything though Patrick kisses him. Soft and sweet, his tongue flirting with Carl's, coaxing it out to play.

He continues kissing Carl for a long time, letting Carl relax and become nearly boneless with arousal. His dick is throbbing now, in time with his heartbeat. He groans into Patrick's mouth when Patrick takes both their dicks in his hand and slicks their pre-come all over them before he begins to jerk them both off together.

"Fuck!" The word comes out of Carl's mouth without him even knowing he'd said it.

Smiling Patrick answer's him. "Not yet dude, but one day for sure. No way I'm ever gonna give you up." Carl snorts even as his eyes roll in pleasure. He looks at Patrick through his lashes and then looks down at Patrick's hand on their cocks. His own hands come to rest on Patrick's thighs and he suddenly gets an idea. Sucking two fingers into his own mouth he lets saliva coat them liberally & then looking at Patrick as he does so, he moves them down under their balls and skates them across Patrick's hole.

"You fucker!" Its Patrick's turn to swear as Carl uses his surprise to press past that first tight muscle.

"Not yet Pat, but one day definitely." Carl tosses Patrick's words back at him nearly verbatim.

Patrick snarls at him as Carl smiles an angelic smile and begins to prod his prostate. "I'm really glad you showed me this Pat." He says softly and Patrick calms at his tone. He isn't teasing anymore, merely giving Patrick pleasure as he's getting himself.

"Spread your legs." Patrick says suddenly as he slicks up two fingers of his own.

"Pat, no. You don't have to. I just…ahh." Carl trails off as he feels Patrick's long fingers push inside him. "Pat." He says simply as he drops his head forward onto Patrick's shoulder and stares at Patrick's other hand still jerking them off. "Still gonna come you know."

He feels Patrick's amused laugh skate across his neck and raises his head. Patrick's eyes glint down at him and Carl smiles back up at him. Then he leans up to kiss him as he feels his balls draw up again. Eyes closing to everything but his orgasm Carl kisses Patrick hotly now. His tongue pushing into Patrick's mouth and his free hand coming up to hold Patrick by the neck as Patrick jerks him through his orgasm and then continues to jerk him off as he comes himself.

Carl can feel Patrick's hole fluttering around his fingers as he feels Patrick's come splash between them as his had done moments before. He waits a few minutes as they both catch their breath and then he pulls his fingers out of Patrick. He groans as Patrick clenches on them, trying to keep them inside.

When they plop out he brings them forth and looking at Patrick he slowly raises them to his lips and opens his mouth over them, sucking them down. He slides his tongue over them, pushes them in and out of his mouth, cleaning them. Tasting Patrick's very essence.

Patrick just watches and Carl can feel his dick hardening again. He can feel his own dick hardening too. Then with a sigh Patrick pulls his own fingers out of Carl. Instead of mimicking Carl however he raises his fingers to Carl's mouth as well. Carl smiles at Patrick through his lashes as he sucks himself off Patrick's fingers.

Moaning Patrick pulls them out and pushes back on Carl's legs and is face down in Carl's lap before he realises he's even moved. Carl's head falls back on the wall with a heavy thump as he feels Patrick's lips engulf his dick.

"Pat, God!" He exclaims as his back arches. He feels the wet suction on his dick and Patrick's fingers in his backside again and before he knows where he is he shoots again. Straight into Patrick's mouth. He is mortified as Patrick's chuckles around him even as he swallows. He tries to push him away but he can't. "Pat, get off!" He says finally, loud and sharp.

Pulling off slowly, Patrick gives one last tongue twining kiss to the head of Carl's dick. Then he sits up licking his lips and smearing his fingers across his chin where some of Carl's come had escaped. Looking at Carl, his eyes heavy-lidded and black as night he slowly pulls Carl's earlier move as he sucks them into his mouth and cleans Carl off them.

"Yeah dude?" Patrick finally asks as he finishes his come clean up job. "Why'd you want me to stop? I could've made you come again you know. I'm good."

Carl frowns. "I, I didn't come too quick?" He asks quietly.

"What? No, why would you think that?" Patrick asks puzzled.

"Oh geez Pat, I don't know, maybe because I came in your mouth in like two freaking seconds!" Carl answers in an irritated tone.

Patrick snorts. "Dude, you're like fourteen, fifteen soon enough. It's like a requirement, a rite of teenage passage or some shit that we come lots and come fucking quick. If you hadn't made me stop I'd have made you come again already I bet." Patrick laughs lightly as he answers.

Carl frowns again. "You're not, not disappointed in me? That I came too quick I mean?"

"Nope, not at all. I bet I'll be the same." Patrick leans up and moves back up to straddle Carl. He puts both hands over his shoulders and leans their foreheads together. "Not even an issue Carl, I promise." He kisses Carl again and Carl kisses him back.

Sliding down the wall they wrap themselves around each other and savour the skin on skin contact as they've never been able to before. And there in the sunlight, they fall asleep in each other's arms.


	11. Chapter 11

Carl and Patrick sit side by side at the fire. The whickerand clink of hobbled horses keep them company as do Rick, Daryl and Michonne. It's been a long few days catching the horses. Daryl and Michonnehad gentledthem enough to take halters and tomorrow they would load them up into the horse trailer and they'd all head home.

Home, Carl thought. "I never thought I'd miss my lumpy mattress at the prison." He said out loud as he shifted and stretched out his leg that had taken a kick the day before yesterday. It was an ugly blue shade, the bruise so dark it hadn't even started to fade.

"We've got liniment somewhere dude." Patrick says. "I'll look for it when I can stand." Daryl snorted at them and rose to his feet lithely. Carl shook his head at Patrick's sigh of admiration but said nothing. Michonne snorted at them both.

"Mich, we're young inexperienced boys." Carl says to her imploringly when he hears her snort.

"Uh huh, sure you are runt, sure you are." She scoffs as Daryl returns with the liniment and tosses it to Carl. He catches it mid-air and Rick's eyes widen slightly at his reflexes. It had been a long high shot with power behind it. Carl catching it and Daryl's assumption he would, made him realise Carl was very nearly an adult. Physically at least.

"Oh I'd agree with Carl, Mich. He really doesn't have that much experience." Rick smother's his smile as Carl protests this as he knew he would. He loved the animation Carl got on his face as he debated with Michonne. The only other person he got that way with these days was Patrick.

Speaking of, Rick frowned as he watched Patrick just grin at Carl as he and Michonneargued. There was something in his gaze that he'd seen before when he looked at Carl. He is distracted by Daryl entering the conversation. Tuning into it again he hears Carl insult all three of them and he shakes his head.

"Daryl you couldn't lay straight in bed." Carl continues.

Michonne laughs outright. "That goes for everyone here but me, since I'm the only one here that is actually straight runt." She laughs again and then freezes as she looks at Carl who is staring back at her with a look of utter horror on his face.

Rick frowns as he watches Carl turn to Patrick. They stare at each other and then turn as one to look at Rick. He looks at them both with a smile wondering bizarrely if they'd somehow only just now really and truly realised that he and Daryl and Michonne were a threesome.

And the penny drops.

Michonne wasn't just talking about he and Daryl. She was talking about Carl. Carl and Patrick if her sentence was a true reflection. Rick turned to look at her. She was looking back at him evenly. But she had an apology in her eyes.

Then she turned to Carl. "I'm so sorry runt." She says no more as she stands exactly as Daryl had and taking up her sword she walks off into the darkness. Rick watches as Daryl follows her, shouldering his crossbow as he went.

There hadn't been shock in Daryl's face either. They'd both known. And neither of them had said anything. Rick closed his eyes and bowed his head. He begged Lori as he had never begged her when he'd been alive to help him through the conversation he was about to have.

Half-remembered things over the past several months come back to him. But the one thing that truly resonates in his mind was seeing Carl step out of the shower at the Greene farm a few days ago. There had been a fading bruise on his pelvis. Just above his pubic hair.

It was a hickeyhe realised. Which meant that unless Carl was fooling around with Daryl or Michonne and Rick knew for a fact that he wasn't. Or possibly some girl at the prison, they had several around Carl's age there now. But if not, then Patrick had given it to him. Which meant they were fooling around. Together.

Shaking his head Rick bats the other hopes away. He knew it wasn't a girl back at the prison. He flashes back and sees Carl and Patrick in the bathroom. Now that he thought about it, he asked himself how he couldn't have seen it before.

Then, weeks or even months ago. The signs had been there, always together, always in each other's company. Shit, that day he'd caught Carl barely dressed in his room with Patrick sitting on the bed he should have realised.

Opening his eyes Rick scrubs his hands over his face and through his hair, pulling at it harshly, trying to centre himself for the conversation waiting for him.

Looking at them he sees that while he's been spaced out running back over memory lane they'd moved closer together. Not in each other's laps or anything but closer, Carl was slightly in front of Patrick, shielding him from Rick's gaze and Patrick had a hand resting on Carl's hip. His hip.

"How long?" Rick asked them both.

Carl shrugs. "Since, what Pat?" Late spring?" Patrick nods but doesn't take his eyes off Rick.

Rick wonders if he's expecting him to beviolent. And a shudder rips down his spine. He realises that he needs to becareful how he handles Patrick. Patrick was slightly older, who knew what sort of experiences he'd suffered before coming to the prison.

"And you're together together?" Rick doesn't know any other way to ask without getting details he doesn't need to know.

"If you mean are we physically intimate then yes." Patrick speaks for the first time. His voice is soft but its firm.

"You're not being pressured?" Rick questions Carl abruptly.

"Are you fucking kidding me dad?" Carl asks exasperatedly.

"Watch your mouth!" Rick is up on his feet suddenly, angered beyond belief. "How long have you two fucking known?" He questions out loud as he looks at the darkness surrounding them. "I fucking know you're there and you're listening, you tell me now." He demands of Michonne and Daryl.

"Enough!" Carl stands up and throws his hat at Rick. Flinching Rick looks at him.

"I ended up telling Mich when I needed someone to talk to. But I'm pretty sure she'd already figured it out. I don't know how Daryl found out but he did. He didn't say anything to you because it's not his business to tell you, it's mine!" Carl yankson Patrick's arm and grabs the liniment, limping to their tent with Patrick following behind him. They crawl into their tent and zip it shut emphatically leaving Rick standing by the fire with the two people he is supposedto be sharing his own tent with staying stubbornly beyond his reach in the dark of the night.

He stands and stares at Carl and Patrick's tent for several minutes before he looks at his own. Shaking his head he drops his old hat, Carl's hat now and walks to the four-wheeldrive that was attached to the trailer. Getting in the back seat he settles down for the night.

He wasn't fit for company.

##########

The trip back to the prison the next day is full of silence. Silence between Rick, Carl and Patrick. Between Rick and Michonne. Between Carl and Michonneand Patrick. And Daryl pulled himself in and spoke to no one at all. Rick drives but it's a miracle he's getting them home in one piece. Most of the drive his eyes had been glued to the rearview mirror as he watched Carl and Patrick interact.

How the fuck had he missed it? It was so fucking obvious now. And what the fuck had they argued about on first day of the trip? Whatever it was they were okay now. He watched them talk and even joke and laugh. Pull faces and look at each other eagerly. They were fine.

He fucking well wasn't.

"How long have you both known?" He asks quietly of Daryl and Michonne.

"Couple weeks at most." Daryl answers without looking at him.

"Since summer." Michonne answered after Daryl. "He asked me some questions and I figured it out."

"And why didn't you tell me?" He asks Michonne this, Carl was right it wasn't Daryl's place to tell him something he should have observed for himself.

"Because we have a deal, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." She says the saying to Rick before she turns to look out the window again.

Rick has no answer for that. He'd encouraged Carl to talk to and confide in Michonne. He was glad Carl had had someone to talk to and confide in. He'd certainly been in no state to deal with a teenage boy discovering himself.

"How is he coping?" He asks softly.

Michonne snorts. "He's fine and dandy, Patrick and I however have had some issues."

Daryl turns to her before Rick can say anything. "The fuck you mean issues? Carl better be treating him right." He says bluntly.

Staring at him Michonne smiled suddenly. As always Rick's heart skipped a beat. It skipped another one when Daryl grinned back at her. "Carl's treating him fine. Both Patrick and I had issues with Carl. I thought he was just messing around with Patrick until some girl he fancied came along. Patrick though, he didn't think Carl had feelings for him, turned out Carl's had feelings for Patrick for a hell of a lot longer than either of us thought. Think he's had issues with boys dumping him in the past, he's insecure. But he's working on it."

"Is that what their fight on first day was about?" Rick questions quickly.

"Something like that, we both took a long time to really accept that Carl truly has feelings for Patrick, genuine deep feelings. And we both stomped on them more than once figuring that out. We're lucky he's forgiving of those he loves."

Rick paused as he realised what she'd said. "Loves?" He questions. "He's not even fifteen yet."

"This world has made him a man already Rick, you'd best remember that." Daryl says nothing more but he doesn't need to. Carl has done a lot more in his young age than he'd done in his entire life until the infection hit.

"Fuck me." He says softly. Neither Daryl nor Michonne deign to answer him and he didn't expect them to.

"Does anyone else know?" He asks some time later when they're nearly home.

"No, neither of them have plans to tell anyone for a fair while I don't think." Michonnesays. "I agree, it's their business, they don't need others in it. And to be honest, they're not obvious about it, if Carl hadn't spoken to me I doubt I'd have realised myself." She is being honest Rick realises.

He turned to Daryl, "How'd you figure it out?" He asks curiously.

Daryl shrugs. "Reminded me of us." He says no more and Rick doesn't need him to. He remembers full well when he and Daryl had discovered they had feelings for each other. The utter magnitude of them, how overwhelming they were.

Rick lets the silence return before he takes a breath and lets it out. He'll let Carl decide when he's ready to talk. But he needs to get one thing off his chest. "He's got a fucking hickeyabout two inches from his cock." He says suddenly. "I didn't realise what it was when I saw it in the bathroom back at the farm." Scrubbing a hand over his face he continues, "I don't need to see fucking hickey's on my fourteen year old son's body, especially where I saw that one."

Michonnelaughed. "Don't worry, he's a virgin. They're just fooling around, exactly like we all did. You going to sit there and tell me you never gave some girl a love bite when you were around Carl's age? I know damn well I did and got them in return, it's like a rite of passage or something." She laughs. "Jesus, we do it to each other now." Daryl snorted in laughter as he raised his shirt and looked down at the hickey in just about the same place that Rick had said Carl's was.

"Mich is right Rick, you fuckin' gave this to me three nights ago. Let it ride." He lowers his shirt and Rick snorts.

"Don't I know it. But he's fourteen." He knows he's lamenting but he can't help it, Carl is his only son.

"Fifteen soon enough, let it go." Michonne says to him as she leans forward resting her chin on his shoulder. Her other arm reaches for Daryl and he slides his fingers through hers even as Rick reaches a hand out to rest on his thigh briefly before he needs to change gears.

"Yeah yeah. I will. And I'll be here when he's ready to talk. Or if?" He questions Michonne. She nods and kisses the side of his neck before biting down suddenly and sucking. "Fuck!" He exclaimed as he jerked the wheel in shock.

" _Not again, Dad. Not again, we're nearly home."_ Carl's plaintive voice comes through the radio sitting on the dash. Rick laughs as he snatches up the radio.

"Preaching to the choir boy." And he tosses the radio back down and focuses on the road home with everyone's mood suddenly lighter.

##########

"I've been thinkingwe need to expand beyond the cell blocks, maybe look at an office suite or classroom or something. Something we can spread out into with a room for Judith." Rick says noncommittallywhen they're turning ontothe prison road. He says no more leaving the choice of it up to Michonne and Daryl.

It's a big step he's asking them to take, they're both so independent. But they surprise him.

"Been thinkin' on that, think I found a place actually. Got a smaller room for our girl and there's a couple rooms across the hall that Carl and Patrick could use, close but not in the same place you know?" He shifts in the seat, leaning back on the door. "I'm up for it."

Rick glances at him and Daryl grins back, then they both turn to look at Michonne. She flutters her eyes at them then looks down and up before letting out a huge dramatic sigh. "I'm not changing dirty diapers and I'm not toilet training. If you're okay with that then yes, I'm in too."

Rick nods though is heart is beating ten to the dozen. "Let's take a look tomorrow. I know Glenn and Maggie have been making noises about expanding beyond the cell blocks too."

"Chinaman ain't taking what I've got in mind, he's got something else lined up." Daryl says as he straightens in his seat and prepares to get out of the vehicle to take care of the few Walkers in their way of getting to the gate. He and Michonne deal with them efficiently and then wave the vehicles on through.

Rick drives his up to the prison and around to where they'd decided to put a temporary stable for the horses. He drives slow and careful as the road is now dirt. He maneuvers the four-wheel drive carefully and then when he's got it reversed in he switches off the engine. Carl and Patrick had parked near the supply entrance and were already unloading.

Watching Herschel stride toward him Rick nods a greeting and then goes to the trailer. Herschel helps him let it down and then they get the horses into the yard. "I've already put water out, we just have to do hay for them."

"Thank you, how did the crops go?" Rick questions as he un-snaps the leads from the horses they'd brought back.

"Oh fine, I do remember how to grow crops you know Rick." Herschel's admonishment is soft but Rick hears it nevertheless.

"I know, they're my babies though." He says with a grin. Then he turns to where his other baby was being broughttoward him, she sat on Daryl's shoulders, her hands clenched gleefully tight in his hair. Michonne strolled by his side holding his crossbow.

"And here are some of my other ones." He uses the plural deliberately as he steps up to Daryl and Michonne. Taking a breath he looks at them both and then slides an arm around Daryl's lean waist and pulls him in for a quick kiss before he bestows one on Michonne. Then he catches Judith as she lets go of Daryl's hair and hurls herself at him.

"Daddy!" She yells. Rick smiles at her.

"I think you've grown, do you think she's grown Daryl?" He looks over and watches Carl and Patrick unload. Like Michonne had said, in public they just weren't obvious at all.

He supposed if he hadn't seen them in some private moments he'd have no idea either. But he had and he should have recognised them for what they were. "I need to talk to Carl and Patrick." He murmurs to Daryl and Michonne. They nod at him and Rick takes Judith with him as he walks toward them.

But by the time he's gotten there they've disappeared. Their gear is gone and the jeep is unpacked as is the trailer. Shit, they'd moved fast. Heading inside, Judith talks to Rick excitedly as only a child can. He picks up the odd word but responds mainly to her tone of voice as he answers her and continues to hunt them down.

Stopping still out on the Eastern side a little later, he watches as Carl and Maggie embrace. He can see something in her hands as she crushes Carl to her tightly. Patrick stands to the side holding something else and Glenn shakes his hand as he takes it from him. Then Carl and Glenn shake hands and Maggie clutches everything to her chest as she heads toward Rick.

Glenn hugs her to him as they nod at Rick and move inside. And then Judith spots Carl. "Carrrr!" Her squeal alerts them and Carl and Patrick turn to Rick and Judith. Putting her down Rick lets her run as fast as she can to Carl who scoops her up and twirls her around.

Taking a breath as he comes up on them Rick does what he'd do to Carl if they were watching Daryl with Judith. He drops an arm around his shoulders and just grins. He feels Patrick stiffen under his arm but he doesn't move away.

Carl's face loses its smile but Judith demands his attention again. Putting his other hand on his hip Rick relaxes as he watches his two children interact with each other. Clearing his throat he looks at Carl as he slowly stops twirling Judith around and slides her around onto his back. He expertly pulls her arms away from choking him.

"So, are you two amenable to moving in to some sort of apartment with us, me and Daryl and Mich and Judith I mean?" Rick decides to be blunt. He knows that Carl won't leave Patrick so Patrick has to come too.

"Apartment?" Carl's voice still shocks Rick sometimes with its newfound deepness.

"Kind of, Daryl has scopedout something, a place we can bewith a room for Judith and he says there are a couple of rooms across the hall you and Pat can use."

"Patrick." Both Carl and Patrick say his full name together.

Rick frowns. Patrick clarifies. "Carl is the only one who gets to call me Pat." Rick raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, others will probably pick up on it you know."

Patrick's shoulders shrug under his arms. "I'll deal with it." He says no more and steps out from Rick's arm. "I'm going to take a shower and then hit the hay, been a long few days."

"Sure, see you later maybe." Carl answers as he begins to move Judith around him and tickle her.

Turning slowly Rick and Carl walk back to the prison.

"So, what did you get Maggie?" Rick asks softly as Judith settles down and rests her head sleepily on Carl's shoulder.

He hitches her up a little before answering. "Photographs, a couple of albums. Tried to make sure I got her mum."

Rick nods. "From the way she was I think you succeeded. I should have thought of that myself."

Carl shrugs. "You had enough on your mind." They walk inside and latch the gate behind them. Getting back into the main area Carl looks up at his father. "You want both of us to move with you guys?" He asks curiously.

"Yeah, you're my son, Patrick is your friend, your…other." Rick decides after a few seconds of searching for a word.

"Dad!" Carl hissed as they were now among other people.

"What? You ashamed of Patrick?" Rick asks incredulously. "I raised you better than that."

Carl shakes his head. He strides to Rick's room and puts Judith down. Then he turns to Rick, shoving his hands through his hair. Rick suddenly realises that he hasn't worn his hat since the night he'd found out Carl and Patrick were together. But before he can ask about it Carl speaks.

"I'm fourteen, nearly fifteen. Pat is sixteen, heading for seventeen. How do you think people are going to take it if we suddenly start holding hands and kissing and shit?" He puts his hands on his hips. "I, no we need to beable to handle ourselves physically when we decide to become public. Neither of us are ashamed of each other Dad. Neither of us." He lets out a breath before continuing.

"This," he gestures between the two of them, "Is why I never said anything to you. You have questions I don't have answers to. Pat and I, we just are. That's all. He's mine, I'm his that's it." Rick frowns as he sits down on his bed. He gestures for Carl to sit as well.

"You know, I don't recall ever talking to you about homosexuality, did your mum ever mention it?" Carl shakes his head. "So no issues with liking Pat, sorry Patrick, as opposed to one of the girls here? No problem with liking a boy instead of a girl at all?" Carl frowns at him and shakes his head.

"I've never liked girls, I had a crush on Cassidy until she screamed in my ear and then I realised I didn't like girls like that." He frowns. "Sophia, I loved her, but I didn't like her like that either." Rick nods.

"I think she had a crush on you though."

"Maybe Dad, I don't know. Pat is different. He's, we're, no. It's more, we're more." Carl sits on the bed now as well with a sigh.

"Are you?" Rick breaks off with a snort.

Looking over at him Carl asks, "What?"

"Shit, I was about to ask if you're being safe but it's not like he's going to get you pregnant and Mich did say to me – though she said nothing else – that you're not having sex anyway, just fooling around."

"I'm a virgin dad, and why do you automatically assume that Pat is going to screw me, he sucked my dick first so I figure I'll screw him first when I'm ready and not before."

Rick covers his ears with his hands but it's too late. "Fuck, Carl!" He hisses, he moves his hands to his eyes and presses the heels of them into his eyes as if trying to wipe the vision of Carl and Patrick sucking each other off but it's stuck. "You're fourteen." He says.

"And I'm not screwing Dad, I'm not ready for that and Pat is perfectly fine with that. We've talked about it, we talk about everything, but I want to tell you." Carl takes a breath and Rick braces himself for God only knows what. "We're going on runs together from now on. When we leave the gates, it's together or not at all."

Letting out a sigh of relief though he's not sure why Rick nods. Then something registers with him and he turns to Carl. "You've been together for months now?"

Carl nods. Rick nods thoughtfully again himself. "So in the jeep on the way to the farm, when you caught me and Mich fooling around, you lied to me boy." Carl frowns now. And Rick grins ferally at him. "You told me you'd only ever jerked off, you were lying to your father."

Swallowing Carl looks evenly at Rick, but he nods, confirming that he did lie to his father. "I'd say you're grounded but that won't work, but you will be punished boy, both of you for lying to me. Never again. Understand?"

Surprising Rick Carl doesn't immediately acknowledge his question. He mulls it over, "If you feel you need to, then okay I accept. But not Pat." He's firm in his statement reminding Rick again that he's truly more adult than child, even in his mind. He accepts punishment, though not for Patrick.

"Okay, just don't lie to me again and I'll let it go this time."

"Long as you realise you won't always like my answers Dad, then sure." Carl stands and moves to Judith's cot. He brushes a hand over her cheek lightly before he leaves the cell. At the entrance he stops. "Deal?"

Rick nods. "Deal. And Carl?" Carl raises an eyebrow at him.

"I like your boyfriend, you have good taste." The smile that Carl flashes at Rick is blinding. And then he is gone. Rick sighs as he leans back on his bed himself. He needs to clean up and head out for dinner but he can't bring himself to move. The last day catches up with him and he rolls on his side and closes his eyes.

When Michonne and Daryl come in later they let him sleep and manage to curl around him without waking him. They'd be there when he woke up.

##########

Carl went back to his room. He unpacked his clothing and piled it into the laundry basket to bepicked up for washing. Then he sat on his bed. He looked at his father's hat. It was battered and sweat stained now. Still wearable but not by much. He'd worn it to death these past few years.

He brushes his fingers over it. It was time to let it go he thought. So he put it under his cot and then gathered his towel and some soap and left for a shower. When he returned to his room Patrick was lying on his bed, squeaky clean himself. "Wanna eat dude?" He asked.

"I'm starving yeah." Carl answered. They walked downstairs to the kitchen and got in line, they were one of the last few people by the look of it. Again the girls flirted with Carl and he ignored them making Patrick smirk to himself. They sit with Herschel who thanked Carl for the photo albums.

Ducking his head Carl brushed it off as much as he could. Patrick shook his head. Guy was modest, too modest. When they'd finished eating Carl stopped at the table on the way back. "Take a walk with me?" He questioned softly.

"Sure." Patrick answered. He followed Carl who, once they were outside walked as if he had a destination in mind. They ended up in the field where they usually tossed a ball around. Patrick wandered with Carl as he walked back and forth, still as if he had a purpose.

Before Patrick questioned him about it though he stopped and sank down to the ground. It was a chilly night, frost was in the air. Snow wasn't far off he thought. "I think this is where we first startedto be together." Carl said softly. Patrick glanced around, measured distances and shrugged.

"I think so too." He sank down and then went further and laid down.

"Dad and I talked, I told him we weren't telling people for a while yet, you still okay with that?"

"Uh huh." Patrick says agreeably.

"Cool, and you're okay with moving with us to wherever the hell Daryl has decided we should all live?"

"Uh huh." Patrick answers again.

"Okay then." Carl lies down now, his head in Patrick's lap, his hand reaching out and connecting with Patrick's as he reached simultaneously for Carl.

"Love you Pat." Patrick's heart stuttered a little before settling into rhythm. He felt Carl's love in his bones. Happiness curled in him as he grinned like a freaking loon.

"Love you too retard." Carl snorted at Patrick's nickname and they both laughed quietly as they watched the stars together.


	12. Chapter 12

"Fuck! Judith!" Carl cursed and called in the same breath. "You fucking little…"

"Carl!" Patrick called to him sounding both humoured and exasperated in the one word.

"Well…" He's cut off.

"She's a kid, she doesn't know any better retard." Patrick talks over the top of him and he skirts around the jeep they're working on and makes a grab for Judith before she can tip more of the oil Carl had set aside after changing it all over her big brother. "Besides," Judith squeals as he tosses her in the air and then flips her around so she's hanging upside down. "I think she wants to play, dontcha Jude, sweet Jude." He sang in a squeaky high-pitched voice as he stuck a hand into the oil and brought it out dripping in black sludge. "I think someone needs some face painting."

"No Pattie, no!" Judith screamed in a hiccupping laugh as she tried to pull her legs out of Patrick's grip. It was useless, now fully grown he was a strong and strapping man. Extremely broad shoulders tapered to slimmer hips but not too slim. His neck was strong and his legs with all the hunting and tracking he did were well muscled. His curly mop of hair he chopped at with reckless disregard give or take every six months. Girls had started going gaga over him about a year or so ago when he'd filled out suddenly in a late growth spurt. He disregarded them too.

He'd become Daryl's right hand man with hunting and unlike Daryl, had the patience of a saint to teach others. He was chief teacher of most basic survival stuff now. Fire, plants, camping out. And he taught people who didn't know how to drive still too.

"You said bad words in front of me, I'm telling Daddy." Judith taunted Carl from what she thought was a safe distance of being held up by Patrick albeit upside down. She learned the error of her ways when Carl, quick as a snake flicked his fingers into the oil and then out and over Judith. He splattered her liberally with dots of oil before he stuck his tongue out at them both and went back to his work.

"Get lost, both of you, I've got work to do."

He hears a shuffling and a whisper before strong hands suddenly yank on the dolly he's lying on and pull him out from under the jeep. The hands grip his thighs right at the reflex joint and squeeze making him shoot up in shock. "Pat! Fu.." His next word is cut-off by Patrick's tongue sliding into his open mouth. He ignores Judith's gagging noises.

Melting into Patrick's kiss his greasy hand slid up into Patrick's curly hair and over his neck and down his back. Patrick shuddered before he drew away and grimaced. Then he looked down at Carl still looking up at him. "This dirty mouth of yours has better uses than cussing out your baby sister." Patrick whispered quietly as he watched Carl's pupils dilate and his breath whoosh out in a stuttering shudder.

"Pat, God." Swallowing Carl pulled sharply and Patrick fell forward again to thud clumsily against Carl's lean chest as he dove back in, his mouth slanting wickedly over Patrick's. "Want you." He said softly as he pulled away. But before he could pull Patrick down on him they're suddenly drenched in the oil Judith had taken up and thrown on them.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Carl yells as Patrick swears too.

"Holy fucking shit, I'm gonna fucking kill you little girl." He manages to get to his feet, only sliding twice and then taking off his boots he looks around for the little wretch. Carl caught the brunt of it however and is literally soaked, his hair hanging in greasy strips down his face and shoulders. He'd never really taken to cutting it and now it was down past his shoulders. Long, straight and sable brown.

Patrick still loved running his fingers through it and washing it for him. He also had visions of fucking Carl from behind one day and holding onto him only by his hair. He grinned as he glanced back at Carl, he'd come when he'd told him that particular fantasy as he jerked him off awhile back.

Rolling over on his side off the dolly Carl managed to slide to his hands and knees but no further. Head down he looked around for Judith. "She hiding behind the bus." He said quietly to Patrick as he looked over and up.

Nodding Patrick took off and Carl started yelling and cursing Judith again to distract her. Classic hunting behavior. A distraction so the real predator isn't heard. And it worked like a charm. He grinned when he heard Judith's shrieking scream followed by Patrick's over the top evil laughter.

"What the hell is going on in here?" A sharp voice cuts through their noise and they all stop and jerk around at Rick as he stands there with his hands on his hips looking at them. Carl being closest catches the brunt of his anger.

Standing carefully he shrugs. "Was changing the oil, blame your daughter for the fact that it didn't stay where I put it."

Patrick drags Judith out from behind the bus. She's squirming and covered in as much oil that he could transfer to her. Carl laughs and Rick's mouth tilts as he smiles.

"Did you throw the oil on them baby girl?" He asked her without moving closer, wanting to stay clean.

"Yes but," Judith trailed off, she remembered Daryl saying to always own up if she was asked but to not make an excuse. So she didn't finish her sentence.

"But?" Rick prompts her though.

Judith thinks before she answers trying to not make an excuse. "They were kissing." She finally answered honestly. "They wouldn't play with me." Rick watches as Shane's mouth pushes out in what is nothing but an adorably cute pout.

Shaking his head he looked at Carl and Patrick. "Finish this off and then go clean up in the stream, you're not setting foot inside like that, I'll leave some clothes by the door for you. Take Judith with you and clean her too." Turning on his heel he left the three of them there.

Carl wondered absent mindedly how he could be eighteen and counting and still feel like he was Judith's age when his father looked at him like that. Lying down again he slid back under the jeep to finish its service.

When he'd finished Patrick and Judith were sitting quietly on the ground beside the jeep and drawing in the mud made of the oil soaking into the ground. "Shit I was gonna say you're cleaner you should get the clothes, but it looks like I'm cleaner." He huffs as he stands and stretches.

He catches Patrick looking up at him and grins as he deliberately flutters his eyelashes at him in invitation. Narrowing his eyes Patrick looks at him and licks his lips. They're brought back to earth by Judith.

"Ugh, no kissing." She demanded as she rose to her feet. She had Lori's skinny build and in a boys pants and boots with a frilly blouse from God knew where she was an oddity. Her hair was a long mass of curly black-brown. Shane is stamped on her everywhere, but so is Lori.

Carl thought of the night a couple of years ago when his dad had sat him down and told him that Shane was more than likely the father of Judith. Carl had answered he may have made her, but he wasn't her father. It was the only other time he'd ever seen Rick cry apart from when he'd told him Lori had died giving birth.

Wiping his hands as best he can Carl heads inside to where his father had left the clothes. Running across Beth he laughs at her grimace. When she sees that he has clothes for Judith as well she shakes her head. "Hey, she poured the oil on Pat and I, we just spread it around." He said in defense. Beth shook her head again.

"I'm about to go shower, I'll take her with me, clean her up. You never do her hair properly and that's without oil in it." Beth said.

"Are you sure?" Carl asked Beth. She nodded.

"Yeah, I haven't seen her for a couple of days, it'll be nice to catch up." Beth said as she walked beside Carl.

"Well, okay if you're sure." Carl said, he wouldn't deny that Patrick had him hot and bothered, bathing together in the stream was something they loved to do together. Judith as much as they loved her would put a crimp in that.

"I'm sure, hey there squirt, let's go get you squeaky clean okay?" Beth says to Judith as they come up on her and Patrick. Patrick opened his mouth to say something but shut it again as Carl shook his head behind Beth's back. They watched the two of them walk away and Carl grinned as Judith put her greasy hand in Beth's and began to natter as only she could.

Beth replied seriously and Judith continued on talking.

"Hey, she insisted, said we don't get Judy's hair clean enough, even without oil being in it." Carl said defensively. Shaking his head Patrick began to walk to the stream they often bathed in together, weather permitting.

They move to the small clearing they'd created for themselves and began to disrobe. Leaving their oil stained clothes on the ground they waded into the stream and dunked themselves. Taking up the soap they'd left there last time Patrick started to lather his body and then tossed it to Carl.

Catching it one-handed Carl began to do the same. Then he turned his back and felt Patrick pouring some of the homemade shampoo they kept here in a jar as well onto his head.

"I'm going to have to do yours too." He says as he groans under Patrick's skilled fingers massaging his scalp. Letting himself lean back on Patrick Carl thinks of what he'd said before to him. He did want him. He was ready. But he knew that Patrick hadn't realised that was what he'd meant.

Carl let Patrick continue to shampoo his hair and then use the lather to stroke over his body. He'd filled out some but not like Patrick. He was taller than Patrick now, kind of like a beanpole. Tall and straight. Mich called him lean and mean. But he had strength and stamina.

Letting his hands drift down in the water past his own hardening cock Carl pushes them back, gripping Patrick's thighs, pulling him flush against his backside with another groan. Patrick was hard too.

Raising himself up on his toes and feeling the mud around his feet Carl arched his back and pushes Patrick's cock down to slide between his legs, to tunnel into the groove of his buttocks. "Oh yeah." Patrick said softly as he began to thrust back and forth, the top of his cock skating across Carl's balls. "God, fuck you're so fucking hot." He says softly as he fucks Carl's channel.

Suddenly Carl pushes himself off Patrick and dives down, sinking underwater. He smiles as he hears Patrick's muffled groan of protest even underwater. Then he swims forward a little and comes up against the sunken boulder in the stream. Putting his back to it he rises up to his full height, letting the water slide off him he bends forward and shakes out his now clean hair letting it fall everywhere, just the way Patrick likes.

Then making sure Patrick is watching him he turns around so he's looking at Patrick over his shoulder. And not breaking eye contact he moves his hands back to his buttocks and grips them. Patrick's gaze drops to watch Carl's hands and Carl smiles. He watches Patrick's eyes dilate as he slowly pulls his buttocks apart, exposing his hole to Patrick's hungry gaze and weeping cock.

"Fuck Carl." He says softly as Carl continues to look at him. He can see Carl's hole clearly in the afternoon sun dappling through the trees and the lower water level around the boulder.

Waiting until Patrick finally brought his gaze back up to Carl's eyes Carl spoke. "I'm ready Pat, I want to take your cock inside me now. I want to feel you inside me now. I want you to come inside me now. I want to feel you Pat." He broke off and waited for Patrick to speak.

"Carl." Carl looks steadily back at Patrick. Watches as he moves back to the bank and grabs up the jar of shampoo they keep out here they're here so often during the summer. He lets go of his butt cheeks, turning to meet Patrick as he wades toward him.

Stopping and looking up the couple of inches he needs to now Patrick looks into Carl's eyes. "Ready to tell people too?" He asks. That was their deal. When they fuck, they tell people and they move in together.

"I am, it's past time." Carl answers. He leans down, his hands sliding around Patrick's waist, one of them gliding up his back, feeling the muscles he touches writhe under his callused fingers. Slanting his mouth over Patrick's Carl takes a kiss, strong lips meet his, lips he knows the taste of, the shape of, the essence of.

Lips he'd recognise anywhere on his skin. "Pat," Carl moans as their mouths breath apart. "God." Carl lets his head drop back as Patrick's lips and tongue slowly kiss a path across his cheek, to his ear and down his neck. He gasps when he feels Patrick open his lips on his neck and begin to suck. "Pat, you're…oh." He says on a whisper as he realises Patrick is marking him.

Making sure people are left with no doubt that they are with each other. "Pat." Carl doesn't recognise his own voice, the softness in it is something he's not heard before. His legs feel weak with desire for Patrick, desire he's let out and still held somewhat in check for fear of going too far too soon over these past few years.

Visions of the two of them and what they're about to do have Carl's cock jerking and pre-come oozing from it to lay on the surface of the water. Patrick breaks away and Carl stares into his eyes, his own feel like the sunlight it too bright, he knows his own pupils are dilated too.

He watches Patrick's eyes drift to his neck and the smile bloom across his face slowly. "Guess you did a good job then?" Carl asks him as he finds himself smiling too.

"Yeah dude, cherry black. Colour suits you, gonna be leaving a lot more from now on." Patrick murmurs and moves back in but Carl slides like an eel out of his grip and goes to his knees taking Patrick's cock in his mouth. "Fuck dude, fuck." Patrick hisses as Carl's tongue teased him. Fisting his own cock Carl jerked it underwater in time with his sucking mouth.

Pulling off for a few seconds he looked up. "You want to come this way first?" He asked Patrick.

Patrick shook his head. "No, I want to come in you. You don't mind being first? I remember you said you'd fuck me first because I blew you first." Patrick says.

Shaking his head Carl stood up, his legs were shaking. "I know, that doesn't matter, I need you to be first Pat. I need you inside me, I've waited too long."

"Four fucking years retard, I know. But you're ready now, which means it's gonna be fantastic." Pulling Carl forward Patrick lays a soft wet kiss on his lips. Carl moans lightly and leans in, nestling into Patrick's sturdier body.

"Love you Pat." He says as he kisses the side of Patrick's neck softly, feeling Patrick's hands soothe over his back.

"Love you too retard." Patrick answers the same way he always does when Carl says 'I love you' first. Carl smiled as he snuggled in for a few seconds and then pulled back, reaching for the shampoo.

"It's outside like you wanted." Patrick says and Carl smiles.

'Yeah." He takes some shampoo and then hands the jar to Patrick to cap for him. And then he turns around and braces one hand on the rock again, presenting his backside to Patrick.

"Dude?" Patrick asks and then stops talking, nearly swallowing his tongue as Carl looks at him from under his lashes and pushes two fingers inside himself, preparing himself to take Patrick's cock for the first time.

"Want to do this for you Pat, I need to." Carl says as he continues to fuck his own fingers in and out of himself. Then he moans as he begins to stretch them inside his body, stretching for Patrick.

"Nice, you are so fucking sexy Carl." Patrick murmurs as he watches. "Now we're doing this, one day I'm gonna prep you with my tongue and nothing else, bet you come before I get my cock inside you that day." He says wickedly as he looks back up into Carl's eyes with a grin that promises nothing but pleasure before dropping them back to Carl's hand in his backside.

Moaning himself at the thought Carl plays no games. "I bet I do too, God the things you do to me with your tongue Pat, God." He says as he tries to grip the boulder tighter, his fingers are cramping in need now. "I'm ready." He says softly as he stops moving his fingers and stills his body. Pulling them out he closes his eyes and lets his head drop down to hang between his shoulder blades.

Opening them a little later he sees his throbbing cock and moans at the thought that soon, maybe today or tomorrow he's going to be pushing that inside Patrick. But now, now Patrick's own cock was going to be pushing inside him. Widening his stance, Carl arched his back and pushed out his butt.

"I'm ready Pat, put your cock inside me now." He orders softly and then he feels Patrick's lips on his neck, sliding softly down the nape, down his spine to the base where he kisses and licks the faint dimples Carl has there. And then he feels Patrick's hands on his buttocks, pushing them apart.

And then Carl feels the hot blunt head of Patrick's cock pressing against his entrance. Kisses land on his shoulders. "Remember what we talked about Carl, relax, push down and let me in, gonna hurt. Has to man, you're popping your cherry. But it's a good hurt."

"Yes, I remember Pat, I remember." Carl answers. He grips the boulder tighter and looks over his shoulder at Patrick, their eyes meet and without looking away Carl deliberately pushes himself back on Patrick's cock as he bears down and Patrick slides into Carl's body for the first time.

"Pat!" Carl calls as he feels himself stretch as he has never stretched or been stretched before.

"I'm here Carl, I'm here, I've got you." And he does. Patrick's arms slide around Carl's waist, one pulling him back onto Patrick's chest as the other slides up his body, palms a nipple, tweaks it lightly and the moves up to Carl's neck, gripping it firmly. "I've got you." He says and Carl feels himself gripped by Patrick.

It was something they'd discovered a couple of years ago, that Carl had a little thing for being gripped by the neck.

_The first time Patrick had stood behind him and done it Carl had shot so hard he'd blacked out. The second time it happened again. Patrick thought he was doing something wrong._

_But when Carl had blushed and told him that he passed out because he orgasmed so hard Patrick had just stared at him in wonder. "You're into auto-erotic asphyxiation? Dude you're fucking kinky." He'd shaken his head and leaned over and kissed Carl soundly. "I can roll with that."_

_"Auto-what?" Carl had asked him. He was nothing but confused about why Patrick putting his hand around his neck caused him to orgasm so hard he blacked out._

_"It means that you like having your breath taken from you, helps you orgasm more, gives a more intense orgasm so they say. I've only done research you know?" Carl nodded. And then he shook his head._

_"No, that's not it. It's that you were holding me uh, captive?" He questioned. "You weren't cutting off my air and I didn't feel like you were, my breathing was fine. It was the thought that you held me captive, that I couldn't get free." Carl blushed fiercely now, his freckles standing out like black dots on his skin._

_Patrick had just stared at him. "I'm glad about the asphyxiation, it's kind of dangerous, but you liked me pinning you down?" His voice is curious now, not judging in any way._

_Nodding Carl looked up at Patrick through his lashes. "I did Pat, I really did." Patrick nodded._

_"I can deal with that too, fuck knows I'm sure I'll have a kink or two. But not all the time though?" His voice rose a bit in fear of Carl's answer._

_Grinning Carl shook his head. "No, at least I hope not." He says with a laugh. Patrick laughed with him._

Carl comes back the present as he feels Patrick bottom out inside him. His backside had been well and truly plundered now. Over the years anal fingering had become a regular part of their play, but Patrick's cock inside him? That was different.

He leaned back fully on Patrick knowing he can and will take his weight with ease. Carl slides his hands over Patrick's, his left resting over Patrick's left arm around his waist, his right up to briefly hold Patrick's hand over his neck before Carl moves it back and grips Patrick's still greasy hair tightly.

"Fuck Pat." He says as he lets his head fall back to rest on Patrick's shoulder. He feels Patrick throbbing inside him and closes his eyes to the sunlight as he lets his body be taken. Patrick doesn't move however, merely stays still. "You gonna move?" Carl asks him softly after a few minutes.

"Yeah, when I think I can hold off from coming straight away dude." Patrick answers him quietly. Carl's eyes open.

"You're that close to coming?" He asks in surprise.

Patrick's hand tightens around his neck. "Dude, I've waited like four years to get my cock inside you, fucking oath I'm close to shooting." Carl's eyes flutter and he turns his head to the side and kisses and licks at Patrick's strong neck. Then he begins to suck and he moans even as he continues to do so as he feels Patrick's cock jerk and throb more inside him.

When he pulls off he pushes himself forward putting his hands back down on the boulder. Then he braces himself and pushes back on Patrick's cock. And looking over his shoulder at Patrick, Carl smiles and then clenches his anal muscles on Patrick.

"Fuck! You, fuck!" Patrick swears loudly as he jerks uncontrollably inside Carl's body. He pulls out and slams back inside without warning and only the fact that he'd braced his arms already stopped Carl's own cock from being slammed against the unforgiving stone.

"You want me to move do you retard?" Patrick says as he begins to thrust awkwardly inside Carl.

"Yes Pat, I want you to fuck me, come inside me." Carl answers Patrick, his words soft and hoarse as he feels his cock jerk and throb in time with Patrick's inside him.

"Jesus, the things you do to me Carl." Patrick mutters as he moves his hands to Carl's waist and pulls him tight against his pelvis, pushing his cock into him at the same time.

Carl moans as he feels Patrick get impossibly harder inside him. "Only what you do to me Pat." He says. His words are broken as is his breath. He's trying to catch it but he can't.

Suddenly Patrick's hands move to his back and push him forward, one hand slides up his spine to the nape of his neck and pushes him down, holds him in place so he can't move. Carl moans again as the synapses in his brain flare at the thought that Patrick is holding him prisoner.

And he gives himself over to Patrick as he gives himself to no one else. His body is owned by Patrick now, as his soul is owned already. Pushing back as Patrick pushes forward they set up a rhythm despite the shifting of mud under their feet.

Carl feels the cock inside him, rubbing his flesh from the inside out, sensitizing it as it has never been sensitized before. His moans are nearly constant as he tries to find a way to cope with the overwhelming feelings Patrick is causing in him again.

He should be used to it by now, but he's not. Patrick can still make him quake like a baby with a look or a touch. And now by possessing him as no other ever has or ever will. Sobbing with the need for release Carl cries out loudly when a wet though still warm and callused hand grasps his leaking cock,

"Pat, please yes." He can say nothing else and begins to chant Patrick's name repeatedly as becomes closer and closer to orgasm. He feels Patrick stroking him in time with his thrusts and grips the boulder harder sure he's leaving imprints in it his fingers are gripping it so hard.

He pushes back on the wide palm on the back of his neck, making it push him down further, hold him tighter. And that firm grasp on the back of his neck is Carl's undoing. He feels his balls draw up and tingles in the base of his spine begin to spread as he howls his release, pushing back on the hand and grasping Patrick's cock with his own muscles from the inside.

Coming in shooting jets all over the boulder he's gripping Carl lets himself fall forward until his chest is resting on the boulder. Patrick follows him down, his cock still hard and throbbing inside him. He leans down on Carl, covering him, his hands moving around to hug his chest.

Slowly, as Carl regains his breath Patrick starts moving again, little slides of his hips, just enough for friction. Carl moans again as he feels Patrick fucking him still. Clenching down he grins at Patrick's pleasured hiss. "You fucker." He says as Carl grins to himself.

"Maybe Pat, you going to tell me you won't do the same?" Carl whispers to Patrick. It's the best his voice can do right now.

"Bet your pretty little backside I will. I'm gonna fucking top from the bottom dude." Patrick says as he bestows warm open-mouthed kisses on Cal's shoulders. Then he pushes himself up, resting his palms on the bounder beside Carl's he begins to move his hips, just his hips.

Back and forth, in and out of Carl's backside. This time the moan is all Patrick as he chases his own pleasure. Carl grins as he clenches down and holds himself tight. Squeezing Patrick's cock as hard as he can, trying to make him come and come good.

"Come for me Pat, need to feel you inside me." He whispers again and it is Patrick's undoing. Carl moans and feels his cock begin to fill again even as he feels Patrick unload inside him. "Oh God, Pat, yes." He says, still whispering as he feels the heat that is Patrick's own essence fill him from the inside

It feels like nothing he's felt before. And he can't wait to feel what it's like when he's the one coming inside Patrick either.

Some minutes later Patrick rises up from where he'd fallen on Carl's back. Carl grins as he clenches down once more as Patrick slowly pulls himself out of the haven that is Carl's body. "Dude, I don't want to leave you, want to sleep just like this."

Carl moans at the thought of going to sleep with Patrick inside him. "You think you'd actually sleep? I know I wouldn't I'd be too hard." He says as he stands himself and flexes his cramping fingers. He'd held the boulder so tightly he had red and raw imprints from it on each finger.

Turning Carl looks at Patrick. Patrick looks back at him. Slowly they both smile at each other. Patrick steps forward in the water and palms Carl's cheek. Carl closes his eyes as he burrows his face into Patrick's palm. He feels like home.

"Love you Carl, can't wait to tell people, no matter how they take it." He says simply.

Carl nods. "Yeah and tonight you can move into the same room and we can work out how to put a proper bed together. I'm not spending another night without you now Pat." Carl answers as he grabs the floating jar of shampoo. He opens it up and scoops some more out and hands the jar to Patrick.

Then he begins to shampoo Patrick's greasy hair. Patrick recaps the shampoo and rests it on the boulder. "I'm never going to look at this boulder again without seeing you spread all over it." He says as he palms his own cock.

Quick as a snake Carl's hands smack his palms away. "Dude." Patrick says to him.

"Mine later on. No more, you hold off Pat, the next time you come I'll be fucking you." He says simply as he begins to shampoo Patrick's hair again.

He ignores Patrick's aroused moan even though it makes his own cock twitch in response. With a huffing laugh he finishes shampooing Patrick's hair and without warning he pushes him backward to land in the stream fully submerged.

Then he dived after him laughing manically. They surface together, arms wound around each other kissing soundly.

Grabbing the shampoo they make their way to shore and dry off. Dressing silently they head inside. When they reach the tree line and break out into the open they stop and look at each other. Then taking a breath they clasp each other's hands and walk toward the buildings in the distance.


	13. Chapter 13

Walking back to the prison hand in hand they don't talk. Patrick is focused on the fact that Carl is going to fuck him later tonight. His cock is twitching like mad at the thought that he's going to be fucked later on. Finally.

Carl is full of Patrick. Patrick owns him now and he'll own Patrick exactly the same later on. He smiles over at Patrick and sees the hickey on the side of his neck. "Guess we'd better see the folks." He says quietly.

Patrick nods. They should. "Yeah, how do you think others are going to take it?" He swallows. He remembered how Scott's parents had been when Scott had come out to them just before the infection hit. It hadn't been pretty.

"Doesn't matter Pat, the people that count the most already know and love us anyway." Carl says as he stopped and looked at Patrick. Patrick stopped and turned to Carl as well. Releasing a sigh he nods.

"Yeah, okay. But not everyone is going to be okay with it Carl, you need to be ready for that you know." He says as he turns and looks at the buildings they're heading toward.

"I know, but they're not going to rule my life Pat, not now not ever. Hey, there's Judy and Beth." He looks at them wandering down one of the gravelled paths that had been laid around the grounds. He watched them come toward them and felt Patrick's hand grow sweaty in his. He gripped it a bit tighter and began to walk toward them.

"Hey guys, nice to see you looking clean again. Judy told me what she did and she has something to say." Beth says as she looks at them both. Her eyes drift down to their hands and then back up to their faces, she looks at Carl first, having known him longer. Taking in the hickey on his neck she raises an eyebrow and glances at Patrick Seeing a matching bruise on his neck she then looks down at Judith.

Judith looks at Patrick, "Piggy back ride Pattie?" She asks him with a smile." Shaking his head Patrick lets go of Carl's hand and quick as a snake reaches for Judith. He grabs her and throws her around so she's hanging upside down again, her wet hair dangling around her face as she squeals.

Carl laughs as Patrick does his evil chortle. He throws an arm around Beth's shoulders as he feels her slip an arm around his waist. After a few seconds of walking around with Judith upside down Patrick rights her and like a monkey she climbs over him to attach herself to his back, legs wound around his waist and her arms around his neck.

Old enough now that she knows not to choke him she settles down and looks over at her brother and Beth. "Carl, did Pattie kiss you too hard again?" She asked as she spied the mark on Carl's neck.

"Yeah squirt, I did." Patrick answered for Carl. And like that Beth is aware they're a couple. Not only that she's aware that Judith already knows this. With that realisation she understands that Rick, Daryl and Michonne would already know as well.

And with that she accepts them.

##########

At dinner that evening Carl and Patrick sit together as usual. There is nothing different in their demeanor to suggest they're a couple. Beth had told her father and Zach. She hadn't told anyone though she would have told Maggie but she hadn't seen her.

Herschel had surprised Beth. She knew he hadn't known from their discussion but she'd expected him to have trouble with them being together. The hickey's certainly indicated they had some sort of physical relationship.

She watched them carefully but still didn't get an inkling or a vibe. And in the low light of the evening not many others saw the hickey's either.

It is the next morning at breakfast when people see them. Females their own age specifically. Patrick had an early watch so Carl was on his own. Beth had never tired of teasing Carl about the girls that tried for his attention. He'd never blushed or gotten nervous around any of them she knew.

She'd always thought he had someone in mind sometimes but he'd never confided in her. For a while she thought it was Maggie, then she thought it was Michonne. It was only now she realised it was probably Patrick and had been Patrick all along.

Shaking her head she watched the three girls looking at Carl and discussing him. She wondered if they knew how they sounded. She didn't like the sound of them herself and hoped to God she'd never been that nasty when she'd had girlfriends to gossip like that with.

Zach slides an arm around her waist and kisses her forehead. "Let it go, they have to deal with it themselves Beth." He says softly. "And they will. They're not, I don't think they've just started seeing each other, I've been thinking about it and I think they've been together for a while." He says softly so other's don't hear.

"Me too, it's just that those girls and the other couple around here are gonna try to tear them apart without even realising what they're doing."

Zach snorts. "Something tells me they'll cope just fine. And I doubt Patrick is going to have any trouble letting them know Carl is taken."

Beth frowned at him. "Why Patrick? Why not Carl having trouble?" She asked with a frown.

Smiling Zach answered her. "Because they've been going gaga over Carl for a few years now, but Patrick only for the last year or so, since he's filled out some. He's been dealing with them falling all over Carl for longer than Carl's been dealing with them falling all over him."

"Oh, of course. Still, I hope no bloodshed comes out of it." Beth says plaintively.

"Wishful thinking, someone's gonna draw blood, I'm hoping its one of the guys, those bitches need a come to Jesus talk." Zach says as he stands and heads off to his work for the day.

Beth sits and does the schedules, Herschel had been the only one unsurprised by her analytical mind. She'd been charge of rostering for a few years now and enjoyed it. Though she didn't enjoy the way people tried to get in her good books for different shifts.

She had not been popular because she didn't rearrange the schedules when people tried to get her to. The girls she was looking at being a case in point. They were only a few years her junior but had not lived outside on the road as she had, they'd been protected as she had been initially.

For the first time Beth resolved to not be impartial and to give them the shittiest of the shittiest jobs if they gave Carl and Patrick any real trouble when they found out they'd put the hickeys on each other.

"Hey Carl, who is your girlfriend?" Lizzie's voice rang out. Beth slowed down her work and watched Carl. The tips of his ears turned red but that was all. She felt her heart beat faster as he stood after finishing his breakfast.

"I don't have a girlfriend Lizzie." He answers quietly as he takes his dish up to be washed. He'd never left it for someone to clean up after him even though it always put him in contact with the girls and their aggressive flirting.

"Oh yeah, you got a 'woman' friend then?" Tish, asked. She was about a year older than Carl and had been trying for both he and Patrick ever since she'd arrived a couple of years ago.

"No." Carl answered as he left his dishes behind and began to leave.

"Then what? A boyfriend?" Lizzie asked sarcastically.

Carl stopped and turned around. He looked at all three of them equally. "Yeah, I do have a boyfriend. Patrick's my boyfriend." He goes to turn around again but is stopped by a screech.

"What? Are you kidding me? I don't believe it!" This from Mika. Beth winced a little. She was the less venomous of the three of them but still had claws. And Beth knew she'd had a heavy crush on Patrick for a while.

"Why don't you believe it Mika? Because Pat should choose you? He didn't and he won't." Carl says. He winces as he turns back and walks outside not stopping this time for anyone. Beth began to write her rosters again but she made a couple of adjustments as she listened to the girls talk.

She shook her head as they got increasingly louder. Loud enough that she didn't realise Judith had come into the room.

"You don't say that about my brothers! You're just a jealous haggy person! You leave them alone!" Her words get progressively louder as she stands and stars at the girls with her hands on her hips. Beth winced as she got to her feet to go grab her but someone beat her to it.

"Well said squirt." Patrick reached for her and Judith went up into his arms her hands latching tightly around his neck as she burst into noisy tears. Beth's protective instinct was roused now. No one messed with Judith.

"I agree, the three of you need to pull your heads in here and now or I'll be giving you the shit jobs until the day you all get turfed out of here to be Walker bait." She said loudly as she stood up and went to Judith. She ran a hand softly up and down her back as she ranged herself by Patrick's side.

"If Patrick and Carl are together it's no one's business but theirs and you ladies need to remember that." She placed sarcastic emphasis on the word ladies and Mika flushed in shame though the other two didn't. Not that she expected them to.

"And if you don't, I don't care that you've got a cunt instead of a cock, I'll take all three of you down and don't you fucking forget it. He's mine, no one else's." Beth shivers at the menace in Patrick's voice. She'd only ever heard him like that once before when someone they'd exiled had been abusing his wife.

"Pattie, bad words. You can't say them or you'll get in trouble with our Daddies." Judith snuggles further into Patrick's solid arms and Beth finds herself laughing as she follows them outside. Sitting down with Judith still wrapped in his arms Patrick rocks her as Beth sits beside him.

She strokes a hand down Judith's hair and surprises the hell out of Patrick by stroking his as well. "Good on you, they needed that. I've always disliked the way they talk about you and Carl." Patrick nodded.

"I have too, we had a deal. Until we went public we wouldn't take offense, just let it ride. And I would have except they upset squirt here. No one messes with her, no one."

Judith sits back in Patrick's arms suddenly and says in a tone far beyond her years. "No one messes with my brother's either Pattie." Patrick gapes at her as does Beth and then he looks over and shakes his head at Beth in bemusement.

"Understood squirt, but next time wait until you've got someone to watch your back okay?" He questions her drily.

"Okay." She says again as Beth continues to stare at her. Shaking her head as well she stands up.

"If you're okay, I'm going to get to work." She steps away and then steps back. "Um, Patrick?" She waits until he looks up at her, squinting in the sunlight and trying to focus. She knew he had trouble with some close up vision these days. "Uh, how long have you guys been together?" Giving in and calling herself a nosey parker Beth still asks the question.

She is blinded by Patrick's smile. "Oh, over four years now." He answers her blithely and then he laughs loudly as Beth's jaw drops.

"Seriously?" She is flabbergasted they'd managed to keep it to themselves for so long. "How long have your family all known?" She asks knowing that Rick, Daryl and Michonne as well as Judith see Patrick as family and have done for some time.

"Geez that long as well, except squirt. She's only been aware for a couple of years. And she is not a fan of our kissing." Patrick grins engagingly at Beth as Judith grumbles at him in agreement. "Its why she dumped the oil on us yesterday."

With a laugh Beth shook her head and turned away only to turn back again. "Thanks for answering." Patrick merely nodded at her this time.

Beth walked away with a lighter heart at the realisation they'd be okay. They had more history than anyone knew, they wouldn't be torn apart by prejudice or jealousy.

##########

Sliding onto their newly fashioned double bed later that evening Patrick wrapped his arms around Carl. "Dude, we need to think about that trip to the Grand Canyon I think, if we're still gonna go and all that. It needs to be planned good."

Rolling over and into Patrick's arms Carl nuzzled his neck where his hickey bloomed. "Um, sure. But later." He skates his hands down Patrick's back and over his backside. "I want this now since I didn't get it last night." He says speaking of the late watch change that had left him sleeping alone.

"Fucking slut." Patrick mutters to him even as his lips are kissing and licking at Carl's neck and chest. He rolls onto his back bringing Carl with him, letting him slide in between his legs. They both groan lightly as their burgeoning cocks slide against each other.

Carl laughs lightly as he rears back at the same time he slides a hand under his pillow. He brings it back with a half-used tube and opens it up. "You better be ready, I've been waiting for your backside since you took mine Pat."

Patrick shakes his head and scoots up on the mattress even as he spreads his legs widely for Carl, he hooks his arms under each thigh and pulls them up. Deliberately spreading and exposing himself for Carl. "God Pat, you are beautiful and sexy and everything." Carl says as he watches Patrick push himself open for Carl before Carl has laid a finger on him.

"No Carl, I just need you in me." Patrick answers as he feels the need begin to claw at him, like fingernails on a chalkboard his cock had been hard and leaking from the moment Carl said he wanted to be inside him and his spine was tingling and his balls were tight against his body. "I'm gonna come quick." Patrick says as he watches Carl slide lubricant around the tips of his fingers.

The smile he gifts Patrick with is nothing but pure sexual fire. "Count on it." And so saying he pushes two fingers immediately into Patrick's entrance firmly even as he bends his head and take Patrick's cock into his mouth.

"Fuck, you…" Patrick trails off on a moan of pleasure as Carl's tongue teases around his slit before prodding it directly. One of his hands moves to the back of his cock and chokes off his orgasm before it can roll through him.

"No Pat, I want you to come now, so I can take my time fucking you." Carl says firmly as he pulls off and pushes Patrick's hand away from his cock.

"Carl, no…" He's cut off again.

"Yes Pat, give it to me, I want it in my mouth, I want to swallow you down and share it with you as I fuck into you for the first time. Patrick moans loudly at Carl's words and can't help himself. He shoots right into Carl's mouth as he'd just said he wanted. He feels his hole clenching down on Patrick's fingers and wonders hazily when he'd put three inside him.

Slowly unwinding his legs a little Patrick straightens them before bringing them up and opening them again with his heels on the bed. Carl wriggles his fingers inside him as he milks the last load off Patrick's cock.

Then he pulls off softly with a last lingering kiss as he pulls his fingers out as well and uses the leftover lube on his cock. And then he moves up between Patrick's thighs. Patrick's heart trembles as he watches Carl watching him. Still watching each other Carl leans down on one hand as he guides his cock into Patrick's body with his other.

Then his mouth cruises over Patrick's and Patrick opens underneath him, sucking his tongue and last mouthful of his own sperm into his mouth. They play it back and forth as Patrick sighs through Carl's invasion of his backside.

Breaking away he moans loudly as Carl bottoms out in him. Hooking his legs around Carl's waist he slides his hands up Carl's shoulders and pulls him down to him again for another kiss.

Carl doesn't move as he allows Patrick to get used to him as Patrick had done yesterday. They continue to kiss languidly losing track of time as they do so.

Eventually Carl pulls back with a hiss and moan as Patrick clenches down on him, letting him know he's ready. Resting his fisted hands on the bed beside Patrick's shoulders he begins to flex his hips slowly. Doing what he'd normally do if he was dry humping Patrick as they'd done hundreds of times together over the years.

Patrick moaned again and Carl can't help flashing a pride-filled grin at the writhing mess he's turned Patrick into. Just like he'd been yesterday. "Fucker." Patrick mumbles and Carl laughs outright, huffing as he continues to fuck Patrick hard again. He watches Patrick's begin to rise and fill a second time and salivates at the thought of sucking him off again.

Suddenly willing to at least try it Carl rears back onto his knees and pulls Patrick with him by his hips so he's still being fucked but his hips are higher than his head. And then Carl stops.

"Close your eyes Pat." He says softly, wanting it to be a surprise. He's fairly sure he can do it but he doesn't want Patrick to see him fail on the off-chance he can't do that he's going to try.

Patrick looks up at him and then with a small frown he closes his eyes. He moans again as Carl fists his cock now, watching Patrick's stomach muscles flex and bunch in arousal Carl leans down carefully as he continues to make thrusts in and out of the haven of Patrick's backside.

He knows what Patrick meant now about wanting to stay there. Carl didn't ever want to leave Patrick's backside. Pulling Patrick's cock up straight, Carl opens his mouth and takes him inside.

He feels Patrick jerk and shout in pleasure and come again straight into his mouth. Carl finds himself spilling some of Patrick's come as he can't stop smiling. Feeling Patrick's channel begin to clench down on him repeatedly however he pulls off leaving come dripping out of his mouth as he fucks hard and uncontrollably into Patrick now, chasing his own orgasm.

Patrick melted in arousal as he came again with a cock in his backside even as lips wrapped around his own shaft. "Fuck." He moaned repeatedly as he came in Carl's mouth again, even as Carl's cock was hot and hard inside him.

He cannot help the flutters of his backside as it spasms with his own orgasm around Carl's cock. He feels as limp as a noodle as Carl pushes him back down again and spreads him wide so he can fuck him into the floor and beyond. He ignores he pounding on the wall, not realising how loud they're being.

Carl's face is frozen in pleasure above him as he looks down at Patrick as he fills him with his semen. Patrick holds onto Carl as tight as he can from the inside out. He feels Carl inside him, his cock, his come, his essence.

When Carl falls onto him Patrick forces his arms to move and hugs him tightly. "Remind me why we waited again?" He questions breathlessly holding Carl tighter as he laughed and wheezed at the same time. "And when the fuck were you going to let that little gem out of the bag you fucker?" He asks Carl referring to the fucking and sucking simultaneously.

Rising up on his hands and then his knees and slowly pulling out of Patrick Carl stays up on his knees. "I didn't know I could, I just wanted to try it tonight when I realised I wanted to suck you off again." He looks down at Patrick and Patrick sees a hint of the uncertain boy he'd been when they'd first started fooling around together over four years ago. "Did you not like it?"

"Dude, the fact that I came as soon as you took me in your mouth while you fucked me is answer enough don't you think? But in case you're still not sure. I fucking loved it and I want you to do it again as soon as you fucking can. Okay?" He sits up, crossing his legs. Before he can say anything further a pounding on the door startles them.

"Both of you make another fucking noise tonight and I'll throw a fucking bucket of water on you. You're worse than fucking dogs in heat." Daryl's irritated voice thunders through the door at them.

"Green sure is a pretty colour on you Daryl." Carl shouts back loudly and laughs as Patrick's shocked voice comes screeching out at him.

"Carl! Fuck he'll take that as a challenge you know." Carl nods.

"Exactly, then he'll be too busy trying to make Dad and Mich make noises to be bothered with ours." Carl says decisively. He leans down, pushing Patrick down under him again. "Now there is something I've wanted to try since you fucked me yesterday, but I had to wait until I'd fucked you." He murmurs in Patrick's ear as he licked around the shell.

"What?" Patrick said on a groan as he felt Carl's fingers skating across his cock and balls and then lower. He feels them push inside him and move around and then pull out. Moaning at the emptiness Patrick watches as Carl brings them to his mouth and sucks them clean. "You, oh fuck." He says on another moan as he watches Carl sink to the bedding between his legs.

Patrick shamelessly bends his knees and brings them up, letting them fall wide open. Carl smiles up at him. "God you look sexy Pat, with my come just oozing out of you down here. Can't wait till you see that on me." He says softly, then pushing himself forward he slides his shoulders right in under Patrick's feet so they're resting on Carl's own shoulders. And then still keeping eye contact with Patrick until the last possible minute Carl bends his head and begins to suck on Patrick's rosette entrance.

His hands spread Patrick for his mouth even more. He is wet and hot on Patrick's sensitive flesh. Patrick finds himself thrashing on the bed in pleasure as Carl's strong tongue managed to fuck into him and suck his own come back out after he'd stretched him from his cock.

Feeling his cock rise and fill again Patrick moaned as he felt Carl's tongue moving inside him and sucking. "Fuck, Carl." Neither of them hear the moans from across the hall now, too caught up in each other.

Fisting his own erection Patrick pulled and jerked savagely only to have Carl push up again and take him in his mouth. He shouted at the sensitivity but before he could adjust Carl was pulling back and moving forward.

He grabbed the lube and Patrick frowned until he saw Carl's hands disappear behind his own body. "Yes, fuck yes." He says as he brings a hand back to his cock, keeping it hard for Carl.

But he grabs Carl when Carl goes to pull back. Grinning at Carl's frown Patrick just holds his cock up. "Slide on down, top me from the bottom dude, I fucking dare you." He says with a feral grin.

Narrowing his eyes Carl looked at him and then his cock. With a sharp nod he wiped the rest of the lube on Patrick's cock and then rose up, shuffling forward until he was straddling Patrick's cock.

Then he put it at the head of his own rosebud entrance and began to take him in.

Carl moaned as he felt himself stretch around the heat of Patrick's cock. God that felt good, he wasn't sure either what had taken him so long to decide he was ready to fuck, but whatever it was, it was worth it. He had no regrets apart from possibly taking so long to be ready.

But whatever it was, he was ready now and he was going to make up for lost time. Sliding all the way down once Patrick's flared head had breached his first ring of muscle Carl took Patrick in hard and fast. Then he sat and stared at Patrick as he looked up at him.

Reaching out his arms Carl pulled Patrick up to him. And then he kissed him, slowly and surely. All the while he worked his internal muscles on Patrick. Fucking him from the inside. He loved clenching down on Patrick when he was inside him even though this was only the second time he'd been there.

Stopping moving and breaking away Carl rested his arms over Patrick's shoulders as Patrick's wound securely around his waist. They stopped moving and looked at each other. The grinned as they became aware of the muted sounds across the hallway now.

Shaking his head Patrick looked up at Carl. "You okay? No one's messed with you too much?" He questioned quietly of Carl's day.

"No, a little this morning, but I ignored them, they're not worth the hassle." He says as he thinks of the girls when he'd been eating breakfast.

"Oh them, Judy took care of them." Patrick says. And then he tells Carl what she'd said and what he'd said and what Beth had said.

Carl shakes with laughter as Patrick laughs with him again. "Think she and Zach are going to want to come to the Grand Canyon with us too by the way." Carl says offhand.

"Yeah? You okay with that?" Patrick asked him.

"Yeah, I am. They're good people." Carl answers. Patrick nods. Then he thrusts his hips a little.

"Fine with me, now fuck me dude." He demands as he leans up and takes a searing kiss from his boyfriend who was now his lover in full and his partner in everything else.

Breath leaving him on a whoosh as Carl suddenly pushes him down flat on the bed and anchors his hands over his head Patrick watches the most beautiful person in his life fuck him senseless.

Leaning down Carl's tongue licks a strip up Patrick's neck before he stops and latches on suddenly beginning to suck another mark up. And then pulling off with a pop he pulls his hands back and rests them on Patrick's thighs behind him.

And he begins to move. Patrick moaned. Carl moaned. Sweat sheened both their bodies and dripped from their hair. Carl felt it dripping down his back and into his crack as he fucked Patrick.

Patrick felt his hands getting slippery as Carl's thighs under his palms grew sweaty as did his own hands.

Carl ignored his legs cramping as he picked up his pace.

Patrick felt his balls draw up even as he saw Carl's do the same. He watched Carl's own hard cock bob up and down in front of him. His stomach flexed in pleasure every time Carl's balls kissed his skin as he thrust down on Patrick's cock.

Flexing up all of a sudden Patrick bent and reached for Carl's cock with his mouth. His back protested but he managed to get his mouth around the head of Carl's cock. And like Patrick had earlier Carl shot immediately.

"Pat!" His voice is loud in the room as he comes again inside Patrick, but his mouth this time. Patrick swallows him down, nursing on the head though he can't get anymore of Carl's cock in his mouth.

Saving his last swallow he pulls off and leans up as Carl leans down.

They both moan from sharing Carl's come as much as feeling Patrick come inside Carl again.

Hugging each other tightly the fall down on the bed, still connected. Carl eventually straightens his legs on a groan and Patrick pulls up the sheets they'd let tangle at the foot of the bed.

And still hugging tightly they drift off to sleep.

Together.

##########

The next morning they're with Rick, Daryl and Michonne with Judith sitting next to Beth and Zach who had joined them when Carl broached the subject of the Grand Canyon. Rick stares at him.

His instinct is to say no, no way, no how, no. But he can't he knows full well Carl is an adult, has been for years as is Patrick. So he clamps a lid on his initial protestations and says simply, "Can you give me a couple of seasons to get used to the idea that one day you'll walk out of here and I may never see you again?" He can't say anymore because his throat closes with tears he will not shed.

"Of course, we're not in a hurry, just wanted to let you know, we talked about it and decided to do it back at the farm, it's not an impulse Dad." Carl says quietly. Rick nods.

"I know boys, I know." He stands and smiles gratefully as Daryl and Michonne stand with him. Judith stays with Beth and he's grateful.

His heart quakes when he hears Zach ask if he and Beth can come and Patrick and Carl answer in the affirmative.

"They'll be back, they're survivors, we taught 'em well. All of us Rick, they'll be back." Daryl says as he closes the door of their room behind them. He and Michonne fold him into their arms and Rick goes as tears gush from his eyes.

"I know, I know. But he's an adult who happens to be my child." Rick says no more and lets himself be comforted.

##########

A few weeks later Carl and Patrick begin looking at maps.


	14. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, this is a work of fiction. As such the epilogue while short, is well and truly Au-ish. Hopefully you don't find it too much. Human beings being what we are, I myself find the scenario plausible, my apologies if you do not.

_S_ _ome years later…_

The group came up on the Grand Canyon unexpectedly. They'd been hoping to reach it today or tomorrow, but it still spread across the land as far as the eye could see in front of them, well before they thought they'd reach it.

They were in some funky drift runners that ran on solar. They'd never have made the trek successfully otherwise. Fuel was practically non-existent nowadays. The group stop and stare. Stepping out, Carl takes off the sunglasses he'd found along the way. Most of them now covered their eyes from the sun and the dirt and dust.

Glancing back at the group that had travelled with he and Pat he shook his head. All of the original group plus a couple of others had decided to come. Had had to come really. When word had gotten around after Patrick and Zach had gotten the drift runners working they'd been practically turfed out overnight.

People had an objection apparently to some taking a trip and leaving them behind with work to do and to then expect to waltz back in a year or so later and take up where they'd left off in a position of power.

It didn't matter that Carl and Patrick and Zach and Beth would also be looking at the country to see what, if anything was left. If they left, they didn't come back. And so to save on a community war the original prison group and some more open-minded others had voted quietly to leave with them.

Feeling arms slide around his waist he leans back on the solid warmth that is Patrick.

"They wanted to come dude, let it go already." He says softly. Carl shakes his head, he swears Patrick can read his mind sometimes.

"I know, but if it wasn't for us deciding to honour Sophia by seeing the Grand Canyon, we'd all be back at the prison safe and sound." He answers quietly.

"No, it was a long time coming." Herschel interrupted him quietly. "I saw it coming, your father, Daryl, Carol, Glenn. We all did Carl, you and Patrick taking a trip with Zach and Beth was just a catalyst. That's all." Herschel limped around, stretching his leg.

Shaking his head Carl looked out over the cliff they were standing on. "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" He asked Patrick listening with only half an ear as the other's exclaimed over it as well.

"Yeah dude, I have." Patrick said. But he wasn't looking at the Grand Canyon.

"Anything Pat, not anyone." Carl rolled his eyes but still felt himself blushing at Patrick's admiring gaze. He didn't think he'd ever tire of it. Turning abruptly in Patrick's arms he takes his mouth in a raw and needy kiss.

Patrick groans into his mouth but pulls away when Judith's voice interrupts them. "Get a tent you two, but not until we're settled for the night and make sure it's away from me, I'm sick of hearing you go at it." She says bluntly.

She dances blithely away from their lunges and laughs as she wanders off again. The Grand Canyon really was beautiful. She looked back at her brothers with a grin. They were wrapped in each other as always. Walking down a faded path carefully Judith continued to look around. She frowned over some tracks. Human tracks.

A shiver went down her spine, they were fresh. Before she can move back however a figure is on the path in front of her. Not a Walker, but a human could be just as bad. Judith takes in the leggings and moccasins and the long straight black hair. She assumed he was an Indian but didn't know. They'd done research before they'd been evicted, there were native tribes in the area before the outbreak, it stood to reason some had survived.

"You're human, I mean you're alive." The voice is male and deep. And it sends a shiver down Judith's spine.

Her hand brushes the knife at her hip as she steps back. The figure doesn't move though he raises his hands. "I won't hurt you." Stopping in her place Judith watches him. He doesn't move forward. "How many are you?" He asks quietly.

"Why?" A shoulder lifts and falls. "I have a community." Is all he answers. Feet on the path behind her have him lifting his hooded eyes from her face to behind her. He stiffens as he watches someone come up behind her. Then looking back at Judith he speaks directly to her. "We're five miles north, when you reach the fence follow it west and you'll find the entrance, we're not cannibals so if you are don't come." Raising her eyebrows Judith opens her mouth to answer but he steps back, turns and vanishes.

Faintly she hears the sound of hoof beats and then sees the dust of them as Daryl's hand lands on her shoulder. "He hurt you?'

"No," shaking her head Judith answered, "Said he had a community, if we went five miles that way, we'd see a wall. If we headed west we'd find the entrance. And he said they weren't cannibals so if we were to stay away. That means they can defend themselves right?" She asked quietly as she and Daryl head back to the others.

"I'd say so."

That night they talk about the man's offer. It could be a trap, but Judith's opinion counted in this group, she'd proven herself on the trip time and again. So with her recommendation after a few days of just staring at the Grand Canyon and hiking around they pack and move off in the direction the man had indicated.

When they reach the wall they see its well and truly set to trap Walkers. They take care of the few trapped against the walls as they head west. When they get to the entrance, it is manned. Stopping the drift runners Rick, Daryl, Carl and Patrick step forward. They're met by a man and a woman and a third person steps forward.

Judith's heart jumps as she realises it was the man she'd spoken to. He drifts past the others and looks at her as she gets out of her vehicle. She sees his face clearly for the first time. He is scarred, like he'd been burned. The long hair obscures some of it, but not all, she follows the burns down his neck and into the collar of the nearly threadbare t-shirt he was wearing. He's also nearer her own age than she'd realised.

Then looking up at him she looks directly in his eyes as he looks back at her with his head cocked. "I'm Cougar." He says quietly as he holds out a hand.

Judith holds out her own hand as she answers him. "I'm Judith, or Judy." When their hands connect she feels a click in her heart. From the look on his face he feels the same.

"I hope we can stay?" She questions him. She watches as Cougar looks back at the discussion going on some feet away.

"If you can't I'll leave with you." He turns back to her, raising half of an eyebrow grotesquely and somehow beautifully at the same time. Judith reached out and smoothed the few remaining hairs on Cougars brow line and he let her.

"Okay." She says as she turns to Carl and Patrick, watching them move toward her.

She feels the heat of Cougar standing at her back suddenly. And like that she has someone. Someone for her like Carl and Patrick are for each other. And the grin she bestows on them is blinding.

"Are we staying?" They nod and watch mutely as Cougar turns and follows Judith to her spot in the drift runner. He stands on the running board nimbly and says he'll direct them once they're on the reservation.

##########

Some months later Carl stretches as he rolls over snuggling to Patrick under their bedding. Winter had set in. The air here was different, it was dry, no moisture in it, but they still had plenty of water from the wells sunk into the underground rivers. He was growing to love it here.

There was beauty everywhere in the desolated landscape around them.

Feeling Patrick's hard cock against his hip he smiled as he shimmied down under the bedding to wake him up. They'd found a home again. Together. Life was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed and favourited Fooling Around. I'm so glad Carl and Patrick touched a part of you. They certainly took me by surprise.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N - And so there you have chapter one of Fooling Around. Yes, don't worry for those who've asked for it, the smut will happen, it begins in the very next chapter. But bear in mind the title. Fooling Around, Carl is a cautious kid who is just beginning to realise his sexuality unlike Patrick. He won't be jumping feet first into literally having sex.


End file.
